Memories of Christmas Past
by Eternally Addicted
Summary: Bella and Edward dated in high school.Tragedy occurs forcing her to move away from Forks. Six years later another tragedy brings her back. What happens when on Christmas Eve with the Cullens, she sees Edward for the time since she broke his heart.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy Friday everyone! It feels like it's been forever since I've posted anything. This story began as my entry in the Fandom4LLS, The Leukemia and Lymphoma society, fundraiser. **

**Thank you so very much to all of you who donated to this incredibly worthy cause. Your help was greatly appreciated by all of those fighting so hard to find a cure and by all of those who have loved ones affected by these diseases. **

**Because these characters had more to say than what I wrote in the fundraiser one-shot, I have decided to continue it just a little bit. However because the original one-shot was so long, well over fifty pages, I have broken it up into the first two chapters. So if you have the compilation and read it and at the end are wondering, where's the rest, now you know. **

**Huge hugs and thanks to, My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both rock and I couldn't do this without you!**

**I also have to give a big thank you to Rosalynn at Banners for Causes, for the amazing and awesome banner she made me to go with this story. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. **

**The banner is on my blog and the blog link is on my profile page. I hope you enjoy the story. **

**Disclaimer:**

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author_. **Unauthorized** __**use of such** **material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_ The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. And of course just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.

**~*Memories of Christmas Past*~**

_**Christmas Eve, 2010**_

**~*Bella*~**

Everyone was making their way out of the dining room now that Christmas Eve dinner was over and into the family room to open presents. I was beginning to think that maybe I should have stayed home with Mom and Gran. We had all been invited, but with Gran's declining health she had not felt up to coming. Alice had refused to let me stay home with them and so here I was.

"Bella, honey, are you going to join us while we open presents?" Esme inquired as she placed her hand on my arm and stroked it gently a few times, letting me know she was there for me if I needed her. I wished it was that easy. That I could go to the woman who I had once upon a time looked to as a second mother and have her wave a magic wand or concoct some magic spell and make everything in my life all sunshine and rainbows.

Sadly my life was not a Disney Princess Classic or a tale about witches and wizards, nor was it one within a world where magic spells and wands really existed. No in my world heartbreak and disappointment had taken over more than once. The first time had been six years ago and the second was two months ago. Now here I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that I was back in Forks. The sleepy little logging town I had grown up in and had been whisked away from the last time tragedy had struck my family.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. I wanted to call my mom and check on Gran," I told her and let her pull me in her arms and hug me. It was a lie and I knew it, but I really needed a few minutes to myself before I was ensconced in all the commotion that came with a Cullen family Christmas. As I closed my eyes and for just a second gave into to the feeling of Esme's warm embrace, it was as if no time had passed. I was comforted even if it was only for the short time she rubbed her hands up and down my back soothing away my worries.

"Remember what I said, honey, we're here for you if you need us," she said when she pulled away. I nodded, afraid if I spoke the wall I had up holding my emotions in check would crumble. Guilt surged through me when she gave me a look as if she could see right through the lie I had told her and the wall I was so desperately trying to keep erect.

I hated lying to her. I knew if there was any change with Gran, my mom would call me immediately. Truth was I was disappointed _he_ wasn't here. I had missed all of them, but him most of all. Alice had managed to visit a few times, but once my mother and I had left Forks, I had never seen anyone else in her family again. I had hoped to see him today if for no other reason than to see how he was. Just to catch up. To know that he had been able to move on and have a great life. To know my sacrifice had been worth it.

I stared out the wall of floor to ceiling windows, looking at the full moon. Its bright beams reflected off the snow covered rocks and the ice along the frozen edges of the creek at the end of the yard. Not only did this house and the people who lived here hold so many memories for me, but so did the long yard sprawled out before me and the creek that ran along its border.

Memories of snowball fights and snow angels made when it was covered in a thick blanket of snow just like it was now. Memories of it covered in warm green grass as we ran across it on our way to the creek for an afternoon of swimming and water fights.

Memories of her.

Memories of him.

Memories of them.

Memories of _us_.

Memories that had never left and would remain etched in my heart forever.

It had been six years since I had last looked out these windows and equally as long since I had been to this house. Six years since my father had been shot and killed in the line of duty as the Chief of Police and my mother, unable to get past her pain while being surrounded by his memory, had packed us up, moving us away from the tiny town of Forks, Washington to sunny Arizona.

The choice my mother had made to move had shattered my world. Being here again brought to the surface many good as well as many painful memories. As I watched the snowflakes being picked up and swirled around in the wintery winds sparkle in the moonbeams, my mind traveled back to before that day.

I had met the Cullens when their family had moved to Forks just a couple of weeks into my freshman year of high school. Carlisle and Esme had moved their family here when he had accepted the job as the new head of Obstetrics at the local hospital, Forks General. Tired of the big city life in Los Angeles, they had moved here for a more quiet and family oriented atmosphere. Well that and to be closer to their oldest son who had been rewarded a full scholarship to play baseball at The University of Washington, or UDub as it was commonly known as, which was only four hours away in Seattle. I had never gotten to know Emmett very well since he had been away at school when they had arrived in Forks. But the two other Cullen children had instantly become a very huge part of my life.

Alice and I had been inseparable from the moment we met. We were the same age, in the same grade and somehow had all the same classes. I remembered one of my first thoughts of her had been that her dark, nearly black spiky hair, fair skin and big blue eyes made her look like a porcelain doll. However she hadn't been anything close to fragile. She was strong willed and very outgoing, completely the opposite of me, but yet we had clicked instantly and after only a short time of being friends, we had come to be more like sisters than best friends. Alice had been so easy to love. She was warm, caring and not stuck up or pretentious like some of the other girls our age. Despite the differences in our personalities we had gotten along famously and had found that we balanced each other out quite well. I hadn't been a pushover or a recluse before I met Alice Cullen, I had simply kept to myself never having much in common with the other girls my age. However she made me more social and I calmed her down. Her mother had often referred to us as Yin and Yang.

We'd spend Friday nights at her house and Saturdays at mine every weekend for the next year. Whether painting our toenails, doing our homework, or spending our summers in the creek at the end of her yard, we did it all together. We weren't always alone though. About six months after we'd met, things began to change. After that we'd often find ourselves hanging out with Alice's other older brother Edward and his new best friend Jasper when we weren't doing our own thing.

Edward and Jasper were juniors, two years older than Alice and me. I had met Edward many times and had said 'hi' casually a few times in passing at Alice's house or when he'd drop her off at mine. But I'd never spent any real amount of time with him. However one didn't need to spend much time around Edward Cullen to see how cute he was. I think each time I saw him I crushed a little harder on him. His crystal like green eyes, his reddish-brown mop-top messy hair and his sexy grin were enough to melt any girl. And believe me there were plenty melting at Forks High even if he didn't seem to be particularly interested in many of them.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I quickly pulled my phone from my pocket and put it up to my ear.

"Hey there you are," Alice called from across the room.

"Hang on a sec Mom," I said into the phone, pretending my mother was on the other end.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know you were on the phone."

"It's okay. What's up?"

"Well Santa is going to be here in about ten minutes and then we are going to open presents. Jasper and I have something for you."

"Alice, you really shouldn't have."

"Oh, shush will ya. It's not much. Just a little memento of our past."

"Okay, let me finish checking on Gran and I'll be right there," I promised.

"Okay. Hurry and give my love to your mom and Gran."

"I will."

She then spun and left the room. When her footsteps were far enough away, I shoved the phone back into my pocket and turned back to the window, my thoughts picking up where they'd left off.

Edward and Jasper were different than most the other boys at our school. I didn't know much about Jasper, but from what I knew of Edward, like his sister he had a great personality. While most of the guys at our school were wrapped up in sports or hanging out at the local arcade, Edward and Jasper were into music. It wasn't that they didn't like video games or sports because I knew that Edward and Alice's family watched Emmett's games together whenever they could, but Edward and Jasper just liked music more. Edward could play the guitar and piano, Jasper the drums and guitar, and they could both carry a tune. In fact it had been music that had led to us all hanging out together.

Alice and I had been doing homework in the kitchen one afternoon and had heard music coming from the third floor of the house where Edward's room was located. After investigating, we had found the two of them playing and had stood in the doorway listening for nearly half an hour before they had noticed us. Once they did, they had shocked us by inviting us in to join them and listen some more instead of telling us to get lost.

That had been the start of things for Edward and me. It was slow and hadn't been much at first. For the most part things had stayed the same with the exception of Alice and me spending some of our time with the guys here and there. But just after the beginning of my and Alice's sophomore year, and Edward and Jasper's senior year, things had changed again. Alice and I had both turned sixteen and were now allowed to date.

It hadn't come as a great shock when Alice and Jasper had begun to date. They had flirted with each other on several occasions and it had been abundantly clear they had a thing for each other. While the two of them hadn't seemed fazed by it at all, and had gone on with life as if their dating was a normal progression in their lives, I had been stunned when Edward had asked me out. Over the course of the next couple of months the four of us would go on several double dates. However as each couple grew closer we had begun to want time alone and found ourselves going on more separate dates. Before I had even known what had hit me, I realized I had fallen head over heels in love with Edward Cullen.

But that had been so long ago, it almost felt like it had been another lifetime. I glanced over my shoulder to the doorway across the room before turning my gaze back to the yard. Just as there had been that night, there was now a sprig of mistletoe hanging at the top of the doorway. It was a bittersweet moment remembering it had been in the same doorway where he had pulled me under the mistletoe and had kissed me after telling me he loved me for the first time. It had been the best moment of my life at the time. I closed my eyes and it was as if I was there again. The sounds of chatter coming from the other room were similar to the sounds that night as we had snuck off praying no one had seen us.

The scent of gingerbread cookies had hung in the air. Alice and I had helped Esme bake them earlier in the day. I had tried not to giggle too loudly and get us noticed while Edward tugged me out of the room. I remembered thinking Edward simply wanted to steal a kiss or two and couldn't wait until later. He had always told me how much he loved to kiss me. And well…I didn't mind at all.

I could feel my heart racing now as it had then when he had pressed me up against the doorway in anticipation of his lips on mine. But when the expression on his face had changed from a cocky smirk to one with a more serious tone that was so full of emotion, I knew something was up, although I had never imagined he was about to tell me he loved me. His eyes had stared at me with such intensity that it had felt like he was looking into the very depths of my heart and soul.

Edward had leaned in and whispered my name softly, sending chills down my spine. His spell over me had been broken for a moment when we'd thought we'd heard someone coming. I had started to pull away but he had caged me in with his arms and told me to wait that he had to tell me something first. After waiting a second to make sure we hadn't been discovered, he held both my hands in his and told me he loved me. I'd been so surprised and hadn't even had the chance to tell him I felt the same before his lips were on mine. It had been as if he needed to show me as well as tell me. We had kissed until we broke apart gasping for air, and after taking in a long pull of air, I told him I loved him too. The smile that spread across his face upon hearing my declaration of love for him had been biggest and brightest I had ever seen from him. It had definitely been the best night of my life. One I would never forget.

Life had been so easy then. Back then, back when I was with Edward and Alice and Jasper, we had shared many fun times. Alice and I had been saddened when Edward and Jasper had left to go to Seattle for college but they had promised us they'd come home frequently on the weekends, and they did.

Then one weekend in October, about a month after my seventeenth birthday, I had gone to Seattle with Alice and her parents for the weekend. That weekend had been the biggest roller coaster ride of emotions I had ever experienced in my entire life. We had a wonderful time planned. In addition to visiting with Edward, Jasper and Emmett, one of Edward's music classes had been having a concert and he was going to play the piano during it.

Since Alice and I had, had the Friday of that week off school, we all drove to Seattle Thursday evening. Carlisle and Esme had an evening out in the city planned for themselves on Friday, so that had given Alice and I time alone with our guys. I hadn't had any idea what Alice and Jasper had planned to do with their time, but Edward and I had made plans to make love for the first time. Under the guise of spending the night in the sorority house with Rose, Emmett's girlfriend, Alice and I were able to spend the night with Edward and Jasper. Emmett, who had been successfully sneaking into Rose's room for months, gave his room to Edward and I while Alice and Jasper stayed in his and Edward's room.

The night went off without a hitch. Edward and I had made love like we'd planned and it had been a wonderful, beautiful experience. One I'd never forget even though my world was about to be turned upside down. Sunday on the way home from Seattle, my mother had called and had informed me of my father having been shot. The Cullens had taken me straight to the hospital as soon as we had gotten back in Forks. The next day my father had passed. Two months later, just after Christmas my mother had announced we were moving. And that was the last time I had ever seen Edward.

A door slamming shut startled me back to the present.

Seconds later I heard, "Bella. Bella! Come on. Hurry it's time." Alice was hollering down the hall, her voice getting louder as she got closer.

Knowing there was no way she'd leave me by myself this time, I sucked in a long breath and plastered a smile on my face as I headed towards her.

"Geez, Alice," I said when I saw her. "You look like you're three years old and just woke up Christmas morning to find Santa in your living room."

"Well I may not be three, but Santa will be in my living room any second," she stated gleefully. "Come on, I don't want to miss Lizzie's face when she see's Santa and my dad in the room together at the same time."

Alice had explained to me earlier today that her niece, Lizzie, Emmett and Rose's three year old daughter, had figured out that it was Carlisle who had been playing Santa for her at her house and for the kids at the hospital. Not wanting her to give up on believing in Santa just yet, they devised a plan to have someone else play the jolly old elf and allow her to see her Paw Paw and Santa in the room at the same time. I had no idea who they had gotten to stand in for Carlisle, but I was sure Lizzie was going to be quite surprised when she saw them both.

"You're crazy, Alice. You know that, right?" I teased as she pulled me down the hall by my hand like I was some disobedient child being led off for a proper scolding.

"Oh come on, Bella, its Christmas Eve. Where's your holiday spirit?" she asked as she stopped and turned to face me. "Look," she stated softly, taking both of my hands into hers. "I know that life has once again dealt you a shitty hand. But I have a feeling things are about to get better for you. I believe there was a reason you were meant to come back to Forks. Not just because of your Gran's health either. I know it's—"

"Alice, I just don't see a lot to be in the holiday spirit about right now."

"I understand why you feel that way. I was going to say that I know it's hard for you right now. But just try. Sometimes good things happen when you least expect them to. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll try, but that's the best I can do right now."

"It'll be okay," she assured me as we hugged each other. I then found myself being pulled down the hall once again. Alice had always loved Christmas time and it was clear that hadn't changed about her. Her excitement was infectious and I decided that there was no sense in trying so hard not to enjoy myself. So I blew out a long breath and put a smile on my face.

Upon entering the living room I stood in the doorway taking in all the decorations and letting the inviting, festive atmosphere warm my mood. The tree they'd gotten this year was huge. They'd always had big trees from what I remembered, but this one was by far the largest I had ever seen here or anywhere other than on television. The ceiling was a good twelve feet high and the tree couldn't be less than six inches from reaching it.

Next to it was a large fireplace with a mantle which was decorated in grand style. Hanging from it were garlands and stockings and the top of the mantle had nutcrackers along with many candles in various shapes and sizes, all lit and casting a warm glow as they reflected off the large mirror hanging behind them.

"Where's Santa?" Alice's niece Lizzie cried from where she was standing by the front window bouncing in place as she waited for Santa to arrive. You could practically feel her excitement buzzing throughout the room.

"Lizzie," Emmett said causing his daughter to turn and look at him. "Santa isn't going to drive up to the front of the house. Remember he has a sleigh. Why don't you come over here by Mommy and Daddy or sit by the tree?"

Before Lizzie could move or I could figure out where I should sit, we all heard a loud, "Ho ho ho," coming from the back of the house.

Lizzie instantly stopped bouncing and let out a loud squeal. Alice must have seen me begin to frantically look for a place to sit because she quickly hopped up from her spot next to Jasper on the sofa and pulled me over to sit on the large ottoman that went with the chair next to the sofa.

I had just gotten myself situated in my seat when the loud footsteps that had been getting closer to the living room came to a stop. I looked up and saw Santa standing in the doorway.

A strange feeling crept over me, sending a chill up my spine when Santa looked in my direction and did a double take before he stood frozen with his eyes locked on me. But after a few seconds when he cleared his throat and called out asking for a little girl named Lizzie Cullen, I blew it off to him being curious about the stranger in the Cullen's living room.

It was adorable to watch Lizzie look back and forth between her grandpa and Santa. You could see her mentally coming to terms with them both being in the room at the same time.

After her gaze flitted back and forth like a ping pong ball a few more times, she put her hands on her hips and looked straight at Santa and said, "You're late. You were supposed to be here before dinner."

"You're right, Lizzie," he acknowledged while walking over and squatting down in front of her. "Santa has been very busy today. It is Christmas Eve you know. I've had lots of little boys and girls to visit today."

"Are you sure you're Santa?" she asked folding her arms across her chest. I couldn't stop the giggle that escaped my mouth which caused Alice to do the same thing.

"Of course I'm Santa. Why would you ask me such a thing, young lady?" You could hear whoever it was getting just a little unnerved by her questions. I guess he'd expected her to be so thrilled to see him she wouldn't care that he was late.

"Because Santa is magic," she declared with every ounce of authority she could muster. "He can be wherever he wants to be. I saw it in a movie."

"Well…you see, Lizzie, one of the reindeer were sick and so I had to take him back to the North Pole," Santa told her confidently like he was sure she wouldn't question him at all.

Emmett mumbled "bullshit" just loud enough for those of us sitting near him to hear and a loud snort shot out of me along with another giggle. I found myself again being stared at by Santa.

With him being much closer to me than he had been in the doorway, I couldn't shake the feeling there was something familiar about his eyes. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was as if I should know them. Like I'd seen them before.

After what felt like a much longer time than I was sure it actually was, Santa turned his attention back to Lizzie.

"How about I give you the present I brought for you. Would that make up for me being late?" he asked her with a pleading tone in his voice.

As if someone had given me laughing gas, I was giggling again when Lizzie didn't readily accept his peace offering. It may have been a bit evil of me, but a tiny part of me wanted to see what he'd do if she said no. She literally took a few minutes to think about it, causing me to wonder if she would.

There was no doubt in my mind she was her mother's daughter. From what I had remembered of Rose, she was never quick to accept any answer or apology unless she was one hundred percent certain of it first. And I found it to be completely adorable to see Lizzie not so easily swayed. Besides my brief thoughts of wanting to see Santa squirm a little, it made me believe that she'd have a level head on her shoulders when she got older.

Finally after careful consideration, Lizzie's face lit up as bright as the Christmas tree while she nodded her head several times indicating she indeed wanted the gift. It took her only a few fast moments to have it ripped open and to be squealing, "This is just what I wanted. How did you know?"

Santa chuckled lightly and said, "Ho ho ho," with another chuckle and then told her, "Because Santa knows what everyone wants for Christmas."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes going wide and now acting like the dazzled child who had Santa standing in front of her.

"Really," he stated confidently. While looking around the room he then said, "I know what everyone in this room wants for Christmas. Except—" He stopped when his eyes landed on me. His finger was pointed directly at me as he announced, "Her."

I could feel my face turning red from him singling me out in front of everyone, and then Lizzie inquired, "Why don't you know what she wants, Santa?" which only made it worse.

"I don't know. Maybe she was on the naughty list this year. What do you think?" he asked Lizzie. "Do you think she was a bad girl this year?"

Lizzie shook her head back and forth. She then tugged on the white fur trim of his coat before motioning with her finger for him to bend over so she could whisper something in his ear. He turned and squatted down next to her. I had no clue what it was she said to him, but by the time he stood back up she was giggling and he was scratching his beard as if he were thinking about something.

"Are you sure?" he asked her softly after glancing over his shoulder at me. She nodded vigorously with a huge toothy grin on her face.

Next thing I knew he had closed the distance between where he had been standing and where I was sitting. I knew I was in trouble the second he stopped in front of me and held his hand out because when he did, I looked up at him and immediately recognized who was in the Santa suit.

I didn't need any other clue to know exactly who it was; his emerald green eyes gave him away. They were clouded with questions and swimming with emotion, but they were the same eyes that I had seen in my dreams many times over the last few years. Piercing green eyes that I would never forget. And now the reaction he'd had when he first entered the room and saw me made complete sense.

He hand was still extended to me but I wasn't exactly sure why since I had no idea what Lizzie had said to him. I didn't know what to do. I almost felt afraid to take his hand not knowing what would happen when I did.

However, it must have been obvious to everyone else, because Alice chirped, "Bella, I think Santa wants to know what you want for Christmas."

I was torn between dashing out of the room or burying my face in my hands to hide the blush I knew was still there from the heat I felt burning my cheeks. However not wanting to disappoint Lizzie or make a fool out of myself by either running or hiding my face, I reasoned that it was best to just get this over with quickly and get myself out of the spotlight. So I took his hand and he pulled me into a standing position. I felt my cheeks get even hotter as this put me even more in the spotlight than I had been in before.

Unable to look directly at Santa, my eyes searched the room for something to focus on. Settling on the Christmas tree behind him, I took a deep breath and began, "All I really wa—"

"Oh come on, everyone knows you are supposed to be sitting on Santa's lap when you tell him what you want for Christmas!" Emmett eagerly informed us.

I quickly shook my head in protest, but before I could move away I found myself being spun as Santa sat on the ottoman I had just been on and tugged me down onto his lap.

Everyone was laughing and despite being mortified, I found myself laughing with them. There really wasn't anything else I could do besides plot my revenge against Emmett. Especially since Lizzie had already lost interest in the situation as she became engrossed with the present she had just received.

"Okay, I think we've embarrassed Bella enough," Esme said. "Bella, dear, why don't you tell Santa what it is you want so we can pass out the rest of the gifts?"

Everyone quickly hushed and I wasn't so sure that was better as all eyes were once again on me. Clearing my throat I quickly said, "All I really want is for all my friends, family and loved ones to be happy and healthy."

"That's a wonderful thing to wish for," Esme stated. She had been down to the house to help with whatever she could since my mom and I had returned to Forks to care for Gran.

I hopped up quickly when Carlisle announced for Lizzie to come say goodbye to Santa so he could be on his way to deliver presents to the rest of the boys and girls across the world.

A few minutes later when everyone was busy going about the business of handing out gifts now that Santa was gone, I excused myself from the room under the guise of needing to use the restroom. What I really needed was some time alone to get a hold on all the emotions that were surging through me. I had thought I'd be able to handle seeing Edward again. But even under the cover of a Santa suit, I wasn't so sure now. Excuses for Alice to take me home began to flit through my brain as I escaped the living room.

Loving the view and peaceful feeling it offered, I made my way back to the wall of windows in the dining room. This time there were footsteps leading from the driveway to the deck stairs, marring the previously untouched blanket of snow covering the Cullen's backyard. As my gaze followed the footsteps they changed to a trail of snow tracks across the deck to the back door. It must have been how Edward had gotten in to play Santa without anyone having seen him.

Edward. He was here. When I had stood here earlier, disappointed he wasn't here I thought I had known exactly what I'd say to him if given the chance. But now I wasn't so sure. I was caught off guard by how much my being here seemed to be affecting him.

The more I thought about it, I began to wonder again if I should just leave. Perhaps he was upset that I was here. I wondered if maybe he didn't want me here and how I would've reacted if he'd had someone with him._ You're so stupid, Bella. You should have thought about all that before you agreed to be here tonight. _

I was still mentally chastising myself when without warning the voice I hadn't heard since last time I'd been in this house cut through the room like a hot knife slicing through butter.

**~*Edward*~**

After saying goodbye to my niece, and reminding her she still had to be good and go to bed when her parents told her to, I left out the front door and trudged through almost a foot of newly fallen snow to the back door.

Once I had reached the door, I stomped as much snow off my boots as I could before entering my mother's kitchen. I knew she'd drag me by my ear through the whole damn house for getting snow and mud all over the place.

Toeing the boots off on the rug by the door, I picked them up and carried them the rest of the way up to my old room. Removing the Santa suit, I hung it in the closet so I could return it to my father once Lizzie was nowhere in sight.

I had sweated a lot while in the costume so I wanted to take a quick shower. When I was done and had dried off, I made my way back into my bedroom from the adjoining bathroom, catching a glimpse of the picture of Bella and me sitting on the bookshelf across the room. It had been taken on the day I had graduated from high school.

It was so hard to comprehend the fact that she was here, in my parent's house. I hadn't seen her in so long and honestly thought I might not ever see her again. I sat on the edge of my bed as my mind became flooded with memories of her, of us. I flopped backwards on my bed when the memories turned to questions about why she was here and why she cut things off between us the way she had. I had heard that Alice had kept touch with her over the years, but I had never questioned her or my mother about it. Part of me wished I had and another part didn't want to know in case the reason was she had found someone else. So in an effort to protect myself I had remained silent and had moved on as best as I could, despite the fact I had never gotten completely over her.

It suddenly dawned on me that I was lying here in my room wallowing over the past and questions I needed answers to, and the one person who could answer them all was downstairs.

Jumping up off my bed I got dressed so fast you'd have thought I was the little kid eager to see Santa. I was still rolling the sleeves to my shirt up as I flew down the stairs. It was a miracle I didn't trip and break my neck while doing so.

As I took the last two steps at once, I landed in front of my sister who was on her way out of the living room.

"Where you off to?" I asked her.

"To find Bella. She left a while ago to use the restroom and hasn't come back. I was a bit worried about her. She looked upset. I think she may have realized it was you in the Santa suit."

"You don't think she'd leave without saying anything do you?" _God please tell me she was still here._

"Well, maybe if she could."

"What do you mean if she could?" I was about to freak out and beg Alice to tell me where Bella was staying. I had to talk to her before she left town.

"Jazz and I picked her up from her Gran's house. So she can't leave," Alice clarified.

"Oh."

Alice started to walk away.

"Hey, Alice."

"Yeah?"

"Since I'm supposed to stay out of sight until Em and Rose put Lizzie to bed, why don't you let me look for her? I'd really like to catch up with her. You know for old time's sake."

"Un huh, old time's sake. Sure," she said in a playful accusatory tone.

"What?" It came out as more of a squeak than a question.

Alice stepped closer to me and placed her hands on both of my biceps as if she were trying to comfort or brace me for what she was about to say.

"Look, Big Bro, I know there may be some unresolved issues, feelings, questions or whatever between the two of you. But she's going through a really hard time right now. So go easy on her. Take it slow ok? Promise me you won't push her. You'll have plenty of time to get things settled between you both."

"Plenty of time? How long is she here for?"

"They moved back. She's here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future anyways," my sister told me.

"You said they?" I questioned. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping the other person in the "they" was her mother.

"Her and her mom. Now do you want to go find her or not? She's been gone a while."

"Yeah. I'll come get you if I need to."

"Okay. I love you, Edward."

"Love you too, Munchkin."

Alice and I hugged briefly before she left me so I could go find Bella.

Alice had mentioned Bella had gone off to use the restroom so I checked there first. She wasn't there and after checking the kitchen and entertainment room, I finally found her in the dining room.

She was standing at the glass window looking out into the yard. I was overcome with a sense of déjà vu finding her here and on Christmas Eve of all nights. I looked up over my head and sure enough there was a sprig of mistletoe just like there had been years ago when Bella and I had snuck off to find a few minutes alone and make out. I remembered pressing her against this exact door frame and kissing her right after telling her I loved her for the very first time. I couldn't help chuckling to myself as I remembered her giggling while I tried to hurry her out of the room without us being seen.

I had been trying to figure out how to tell her for weeks and when my whole family had been wrapped up for a few moments talking wedding plans with Rose and Emmett, I saw my opportunity to steal her away. She was pressed against the wood of the doorway and I was pressed against her. I wasn't sure which one of our hearts was beating faster, but I could feel hers hammering away and was pretty certain she could feel mine too.

I had been just about to tell her when we'd thought someone was coming down the hall. She had been spooked and started to dart away, but there was no way I was letting her go without getting out the words I'd been dying to say. I braced my arms on both sides of the doorframe and trapped her there. I think then she realized I wanted more than to just sneak a few kisses. Not that I didn't want those too, because I could kiss her for hours at a time and never get tired of it. Not wanting to wait any longer I finally told her I loved her and without even giving her a chance to respond I immediately kissed her with all the love I felt to make sure there was no doubt in her mind that I meant those three words with everything in me. We kissed until we couldn't any longer and had to catch our breaths and in that moment something even better than telling her how I felt happened. She told me she loved me too. I remembered smiling so widely that it was almost painful. How I would love now to hear her utter those same three words to me again.

As quickly as that memory came, it faded and morphed into the one where I had stood here that first Christmas after she was gone and felt the start of my heart cracking in two when she didn't come to visit like she was supposed to. When she called me and told me to go on with my life. That she couldn't leave her mom in Arizona all alone.

I remembered telling her it was okay, that I understood, and that there would be other chances for her to come visit or I could visit her. That we would see each other next time. But that was when the crack officially went from crack to full on broken. Because it was then that she had told me, "_There won't be a next time, Edward. My life is here now and you have your life there. It's time for us to move on and forget about what we had. You have to let me go. It's what's best for us both." _

For a while after that, I had held on to hope that eventually she'd miss me so much that she'd come anyways. I mean she had said she loved me so she was bound to miss me right? But that had never happened.

I ran my hand through my hair at least a half dozen times as I tried to figure out what to say to her, what to ask her first. Then as if I had no control over my actions, "Why'd you do it?" shot out of my mouth as if someone had suddenly typed a text in my brain and pushed the send button.

I heard her gasp as she spun quickly to face me. She didn't say anything. She just stood there staring at me almost as if she wasn't sure I was really there. As I took the steps to bring myself to stand in front of her, her gaze shifted until she was staring at the floor. I remained silent for a few seconds as I watched her nervously pick at her fingernails. I caught myself wanting to smile at the nervous habit she had apparently not outgrown in the time she'd been away.

With my hand slightly shaking from my own nerves and the uncertainty of what she'd say, I reached out and placed it under her chin so that I could lift her gaze to mine.

"Why? If you have nothing else to say to me, can you at least _please_ just tell me why? Why you gave up on us?" I begged her. Despite my best efforts at reining it in, my voice nearly failed me on the last question, becoming raspy and thick with emotion no matter how hard I tried for it not to.

Her big brown eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over any second as she opened her mouth to speak once and then twice with nothing coming out.

She brushed away a few tears that made their way down her cheek then let out a long whoosh of air. In barely more than a whisper she said, "I had to. She told me—made me see it was what was right… that it was the right thing to do."

"Who, Bella?"

"My mom," she choked out, the words barely audible.

My mind began spinning, trying to figure out why on earth Renee would suggest such a thing to her. And then it hit me. All that they had been through and why they had left in the first place.

"Oh my God, Bella," I said as I reached out and pulled her to me. "Now I see. Don't you see what she did?"

She didn't answer me with words, but I felt her nod her head as her body began to shake with the dam of emotions that had finally become too much for her to hold back any longer.

It became clear to me we had so much to talk about. I had to believe that if she had someone significant in her life that Alice would have told me before she let me come find Bella. I needed to get her out of here before someone saw her crying or before we could be interrupted.

"Where's your coat?" I asked her.

She backed up enough so she could look up at me. "What? Why?"

"We need to talk. And there are too many people here to possibly interrupt us. Will you come with me?"

Without hesitation she nodded and then told me her coat was by the front door.

"Okay. Wait here."

Not waiting for a response from her, I took off down the hall hoping I could grab Bella's coat from the foyer without being noticed. When I was successful I ran upstairs and grabbed my keys, cellphone and wallet and quickly made my way back to Bella. Helping her with her coat, I then took her hand and pulled her to the back door where mine was hanging. Once we both had our coats and gloves on, we made our way out the door and through the snow to my truck. I helped her climb in since it was a high step for her and then made my way around to the other side. Inside the truck, I turned on the heat. While waiting a few minutes for it to warm up and the windows to defrost, I sent Alice a short text letting her know Bella was with me and that I was taking her home. That was all she needed to know for now. I then put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway knowing exactly where we were going. It was where we had always gone when we were younger, a place that was special to us both.

It didn't take Bella long to figure it out. "You're going to the lake?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be someplace we could talk without any interruptions. Are you okay with that?"

She nodded in agreement and then turned to look out the window as we continued on our way.

About twenty minutes later I turned the truck off the main road onto the gravel one that led to the lake. When we came to the dead end, I parked the truck and turned it off. I could see Bella chewing on her lip nervously as she picked at her fingernails again. The last thing I wanted was for her to be a nervous wreck. I had brought us here hoping it would help her relax and feel more comfortable talking with me.

Reaching behind the seat, I dug around until I found the extra hat and scarf I kept there in case of an emergency. Last thing you wanted to happen during a Forks winter was to be stranded without enough gear to keep you warm. I tugged the hat I normally wore out of my coat pocket and put it on. With the extra hat and scarf in hand, I got out of the truck and walked around to Bella's side. Opening the door, I held my hand out to her to help her down. Once she was out of the truck, I slid my extra hat onto her head and then wrapped the scarf around her neck to help keep her warm.

"Come take a walk with me," I said holding my hand out for her to take. She gave me a soft smile and then placed her hand in mine.

While we walked up the path which led to the clearing where the lake was, neither of us said anything as we concentrated on watching our step so we didn't fall or slip in the snow and ice that covered it. As we came to the end of the path, the canopy of dense evergreen trees gave way to a sky that was now crystal clear with a full moon hanging overhead. It had been cloudy earlier in the day, but now that the snow storm had passed the moon was lighting the area like a winter wonderland.

"It's beautiful," Bella gasped as she took in the sight before us.

"Stunning," I whispered. Only I was looking at her and not the lake.

We walked along the lakeshore until we came to the old huge fallen tree trunk we used to sit on when we were younger. After brushing off as much of the snow as we could, we both sat down on the tree with our hands still clasped together between us. I noticed she had begun to look around. When she seemed to find what she was looking for, she got up and walked over to a huge old oak tree; I followed behind her.

"Do you remember the last time we were here together?" she asked while walking around the tree trunk. She stopped when she found what she was looking for.

"It was the day before I left for college."

She nodded and swiped away the snow that had clung to the tree during the storm to uncover our initials that I had carved into the bark on that day.

"It was a tough day for us both."

"I'm glad that things turned out for Alice and Jasper," she whispered.

"Bella, do you remember what we talked about that day?"

"Yes."

"You remember how I told you that it might be hard for us until you graduated and came to UDub with me, but we'd find a way to get through it? We'd visit and have holidays, school breaks and vacations together right?"

"Yes. And I remember you said something similar when I told you that my mom was moving us to Arizona." Her voice was low and filled with uncertainty. "But—"

Cutting her off I asked, "If you remember, then why?"

"It was just so hard and unfair to us both," she murmured.

"But we knew it wasn't going to be easy, Bella. When we met at the airport the day you left, you were as sure and as determined as I was that we'd get through the distance between us no matter how hard it was. We talked about looking at the little picture, taking the time we had until you finished high school and breaking it up into little pieces so that we didn't let the whole amount of time overwhelm us. So that first hurdle we had to overcome was six weeks. You were supposed to fly up here for Christmas break. We had already talked about it with our parents and Alice. So what happened? What did your mom say to you to change your mind?"

She pulled her glove off and ran her fingers over the groves of our initials in the tree. After tracing the carved heart that surrounded them, she took in a deep breath and leaned her head in the direction of the fallen tree trunk and said, "Let's sit back down."

"Okay," I said as I followed her back to our makeshift bench.

"My mom was still having a really hard time dealing with my dad's death even with our new surroundings," she began as soon as we were both sitting again. "A few days before I was supposed to leave, I was bored one afternoon. In my eagerness to come see you and Alice I decided I'd start packing for my trip. My mom had seen me digging through the large closet in the downstairs hallway. She had watched while I pulled out my suitcase and took it upstairs with me to my room. I knew she had seen me, but she hadn't said anything so I didn't think anything about it. I was too eager to pack."

"So you're not coming to Forks that Christmas truly was a last minute thing? You hadn't been lying to me?"

Her only response was the back and forth movement of her head.

"I don't mean to sound like you are a cruel person, Bella. I know lying isn't something you would have normally done. I'm just trying to understand what happened to change things so suddenly."

"No. I didn't lie. I had been dying to come see you up until the day before I was supposed to be there. Well...actually I still wanted to after that, my mom just made me see that it wasn't fair to either of us."

"What do you mean? What did she say?"

"Up until the day before I was supposed to leave, I had been going on and on practically non-stop with how excited I was to come up here." Bella stood and walked to the edge of the lake as she continued to talk. I noticed how she wrapped her arms around herself. At first I thought maybe she was cold, but then when she wasn't shivering or doing anything else to indicate that was the case, it appeared to me, almost as if she were trying to comfort herself over what had happened. Turning away from the lake so she was facing me, she said, "That night as I was getting ready for bed, my mom knocked on my bedroom door and asked to talk to me."

Bella went on to explain how her mom had told her that we weren't being fair to each other. That every time she came up here to visit that it was going to get harder and harder to let go. How we would both be living in limbo waiting for the next visit and not moving on with our lives and that we could be holding each other back from living life as we should, that we were too young to be caught up in some long distance relationship. Renee had told her these years were meant to be fun and carefree, not clouded by us missing one another and maybe missing out on doing things we wanted out of a sense of obligation to one another.

"Wait," I called out to her as I got up and walked over to her. "Your mom thought I was only staying in our relationship because I felt some sort of obligation to you? Bella…that's just…I don't know…_wrong_." I was beyond shocked that her mother could even think such a thing. Our parents had been such good friends and I had a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Renee thought so little of me.

"She thought we both were. She was convinced neither one of us wanted to be the one to say goodbye and be the one to hurt the other one. She said neither of us wanted to be the 'bad guy'."

"I don't even know what to say to that. Bella, I wanted to stay with you and do everything we could to make it work because I loved you. "_Maybe I still did_. Love? I wasn't sure if that was what I still felt for her, but I knew there were still strong feelings and I wanted to explore them. But first, I needed to know everything her mother had said to her.

"What else?" I asked.

Next Bella told me that her mother had asked her what would happen if one of us met someone we wanted to be with, someone we could see and do things with all the time. Would we cut ties then or would we still feel that sense of obligation and then have regrets? Would we start a relationship anyways and then disappear from each other's lives? Her mother had reiterated to her that each time she would come up here to visit me it was going to get harder and harder to say goodbye and that we were only prolonging the inevitable and making a long sad goodbye hurt even more. But the last thing she explained to me was like a slap in the face. Renee had told Bella that young men my age had needs and sooner or later I'd give in to those needs and then where would that leave Bella? That it was in both our best interest if we had a clean break now and didn't look back. It really hurt and pissed me off that Renee had thought I'd give up on Bella for some random, meaningless sex.

"Bella," I said to her as I grasped her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. "Please tell me that you didn't believe I would ever cheat on you or just forget about you. Hell the fact that we are here now having this conversation should tell you that I've never forgotten about you."

"No," she said while shaking her head at the same time. "I…" She paused for a minute and wiped away a tear that trickled from her eye. "I never believed that you would do that to me, and I certainly wouldn't have done that to you. But…I couldn't help thinking that one of the things she said made sense."

"What, Bella? Tell me because I don't think any of it does."

"The part about each time we would have to say goodbye to each other it would get harder. I was already torn, feeling guilty and selfish for leaving my mother in Arizona to spend our first Christmas without my father alone, but missing you so much and Alice too. And after I laid in bed all night crying and torn up over what she had said to me and fighting between what my heart was saying and what my head was saying, I began to think that maybe she was right, that maybe a clean break was what we both needed."

I took a step closer to Bella and let my hands slide from her shoulders to her hands. Linking the fingers on both our hands together I pulled her closer to me. She let her head fall forward so that her forehead was resting on my chest. "I'm so sorry. You must have hated me back then. Wouldn't blame you if you still do," I heard her mumble.

"Oh, Bella," I whispered as I let go of her hands and hugged her tightly. She was beating herself up for something that really wasn't her fault and a no-win situation that fate had dealt her. I couldn't let her do that. "I don't hate you. I've never hated you?"

Her head snapped up and her eyes were wide with shock. "How could you not?" She pulled away and backed up before turning her back to me, hiding her face from my view.

"I was many things…confused, angry, lost and hurt. But, Bella," I said as I moved to where she was standing. I placed my hand on her shoulder which caused her to turn and look up at me. "Hate was never an emotion I felt for you, Bella. I don't even think it's possible for me to hate you."

"Why not?" she asked so softly I could barely hear her. "I hated myself. I don't know how you didn't."

"I can see why you would hate yourself, sweetheart. I don't agree with it, but I see why. You blamed yourself for the situation. But the truth is you were just as much a victim as I was, and even your mother. Although I do believe she used her grief to manipulate the situation a bit to her advantage. But part of me can understand why she did."

"How was I a victim, Edward? I called you on Christmas Eve and broke your heart?"

Feeling the need to touch her I tucked a stray piece of hair that had fallen into her face back under my hat she was wearing and then slid my hand along her jaw to cup her face. As she looked up at me the moonlight caused her skin to glow and despite her tear stained cheeks I was taken aback by what a beautiful woman she had become. She had always been pretty but the changes that had taken place over the six years since I had last seen her had only enhanced the natural beauty she already had.

Rubbing the pad of my thumb across her cheek I began to explain. "The way I see it, Bella, is that we were all victims of a tragic event. As much as I hated it, I can't say that I blame your mother for wanting to move or for wanting to keep you as close to her as possible for as long as she could. After all once your father had passed all she had left were you and your grandmother."

"It still doesn't make what I did right."

"I don't know if there was a right or wrong in that situation. You are right, I think it would have gotten harder for us to say goodbye each time we would have seen each other. But, Bella, I can't fault your mom for wanting you close to her or you for wanting to give that to her. Not after losing your father so suddenly and tragically. Did it suck? Did it hurt like hell at first? Yes it did. But we had all been dealt a shitty hand by fate."

"I am so sorry for hurting you, Edward. I see what you are saying and it makes sense. I guess my mom did manipulate me in a way. But like you said, she was still so lost in her grief. But even so, I still can't believe how incredibly understanding you are being. I wish there were some way I could make it up to you."

We stood there staring at each other. I could see she was still struggling with all I'd said to her. I could see the doubt in her eyes.

"Like I said, I was incredibly hurt for a while. I did eventually learn to move on. However, maybe there is a way for you to make it up to me," I told her.

"Really? How? Because I would do anything for you to forgive me. For you to see just how sorry I truly am."

"Go on a date with me."

"What?" she squeaked, hardly getting the word out in her surprised state.

"Go on a date with me," I repeated as I nervously reached up to run my hand through my hair, forgetting I had a hat on. "Look, I know you are probably going to be helping your mom with your grandmother a lot. And while I am extremely sorry that her bad health is what brought you back to Forks, I also can't help but wonder if maybe we've been given a second chance."

"But—"

"But what?"

"Alice said you had a serious girlfriend."

"She's right. _Had_, as in past tense, not anymore."

"I don't want to be some rebound girl, Edward." She started to turn and walk away, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me. She was pressed against my chest and trapped in my arms.

I leaned down so that my face was barely an inch from hers. "Can you honestly tell me you can't still feel the connection between us, Bella? Can you tell me you didn't know the second I entered the dining room back at the house? Because if you try, I'm going to call you a liar. I saw your body tense, saw your breathing stop and your hand clinch at your side. It's still there, Bella, after all this time. You said you'd do anything. All I'm asking for is one date. One chance."

I could see her searching my eyes to see if I was serious. "Well? It's just a date. I'm not proposing marriage here," I teased her trying to lighten her mood. "What are you waiting for? What's holding you back?"

"I'm scared," she admitted hesitantly. "I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to dating and—"

"This is me, Bella. I won't hurt you. I promise. Please just one date. That's all I'm asking. If you don't have a good time or you decide you don't have any lingering feelings for me, then we can part and just be friends or whatever. But like I said before, I think we are being given a second chance here. It might be scary, but no risk, no reward. So what'd ya say?"

I watched as she chewed on her lip nervously for a few moments while she pondered what I'd said. However the second I saw a soft but timid smile grace her lips, I knew what her answer was before she had spoken the words.

"Okay. When?" she asked.

"Alice and Jasper are having a New Year's Eve party. Be my date?"

"Kay."

I was leaning in about to kiss her when I heard my cellphone chirp in my pocket. Reluctantly I released her. Checking my phone I saw it was Alice wanting to know if I was still with Bella.

"I guess some things never change do they?" Bella giggled when I showed her the text.

"No. Alice is still just as nosy as ever."

"Um, it's getting late. I should probably be getting home."

"Yeah I guess I should get back too." I wasn't really ready to take her home yet. I felt like I had six years of not seeing her to make up for. But hopefully our one date would lead to more and we'd have plenty of time to get caught up on what each of us had been up to since we had last seen one another.

We turned to head back to the truck. But just before we reached the path I knew there was one more thing I had to say. One more thing I had to do.

"Bella," I said, causing her to stop and look up at me.

I took her hand in mine and pulled her into my arms again. "For the record, I would never use you as a rebound girl." Before she had a chance to respond, my lips were on hers, kissing her like I'd been dying to since we'd arrived at the lake.

Stunned I'd kissed her so suddenly it took her a second to respond. But when she did, it was as if no time had elapsed and her lips moved in time with mine as if they had a memory of their own and knew exactly what to do. Her lips were soft, warm just as I had remembered them. Her hands slid up around my neck and knotted in the hair at the base of my head, spurring me to change my position slightly so I could deepen the kiss. And when I did, she didn't resist at all. Our tongues tangled together and kept going until I felt her slipping in my arms, signaling that she was getting weak in the knees and needed to come up for air. I'd thought the memory of kissing her had been good, but actually doing it again—there was no memory that could compare to the real thing.

**So Edward got a kiss and a date. Will it go as he hopes, or will fate intervene once again?**

**I have pictures on my blog under the page for this story. I will add to it as the story continues to unfold. Link for the blog is on my profile page. Also look for a teaser on the blog and on The Fictionators on Monday.  
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**Thanks so much for reading. Let me know what you thought. **

**See you next week. **

**EA**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all of you who have put this story on your alert and favorite's list and to all of you who reviewed. Your support means the world to me and I loved reading all the reviews. As a little thank you from me, I thought I'd give you chapter 2 tonight instead of tomorrow. Enjoy!  
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**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer: **

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author_. __**Unauthorized **__**use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_ The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. And of course just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.

**~*Bella*~**

_**December 29, 2010**_

It took me the next couple of days to wrap my head around the fact that not only did Edward not hate me but that he wanted to take me on a date and somehow thought we were being given a second chance.

I was thrilled and terrified all at the same time. The nerves I was experiencing were almost as bad as those I'd felt when I was sixteen and he'd asked me out for the first time.

Although I wanted to be optimistic and believe things could work out for us after all this time, I knew we still had much to learn about the people we had become over the last six years. There was so much we didn't know about each other. So in a sense it would be like we were truly starting all over again.

When I wasn't worrying about my date with Edward, I was either helping my mom with Gran or looking for a job. Fortunately Gran's insurance allowed for her to receive care from a visiting nurse so all of her care didn't fall on my mother or me. Not that we wouldn't be happy to do it, it just made things easier as well as giving us the reassurance of having a health professional check on her every day.

"So what's been eating at you?" my mother asked as she entered the kitchen. I was in the process of having a cup of hot chocolate while scanning the help wanted section of the Forks daily paper. "Are you worried about finding a job? Is that what has you so frazzled?"

"Um…no." The sound of my chair scraping across the floor as I got up, caused her to turn around from where she had been digging through the fridge for some breakfast. Having only been here a few days on top of celebrating Christmas and dealing with the snow storm, we hadn't had a chance to make a run to the grocery store.

She came over to the sink where I was rinsing my cup and leaned back against the counter just watching me for a minute. "You saw him didn't you? Christmas Eve at the Cullen's house. He was there wasn't he?"

"I don't want to discuss him with you, Mom," I told her as I turned and started to walk away. My head was telling me that I was a twenty-four year old adult now and she couldn't stop me from seeing Edward this time. But my heart was afraid she was going to do just that. That she'd tell me that it was foolish for me to think I could start things back up with him again after all this time or tell me it was silly for me to still be "hung up" on him.

"Bella," she called to me as I neared the kitchen doorway. When I didn't stop she called to me again. "Isabella_. Please_."

I sighed and reluctantly turned around. "Mom."

"Come sit with me for a minute. There are some things I need to say," she told me while squeezing my hand briefly as she remained next to me, waiting for my reply.

I didn't really want to have this conversation with her. I knew if things developed between Edward and I that I'd eventually have to, but I wasn't ready to do it yet. I wasn't ready for her to burst the bubble my heart was currently floating in due to the fact that Edward seemed to still have feelings for me. I just didn't know how deeply his feelings still ran and until I had some sort of idea how things might go between us, I had wanted to keep it to myself. I also knew not telling her anything at all was not an option.

Searching inside for the strength I was going to need to keep her from prying too deeply, I silently nodded my answer to her while I kept telling myself over and over in my head that I wasn't going to let my mother take this chance away from me. I braced myself for the resistance I was certain I'd get from her as I followed her into the living room.

Taking a seat next to her on the couch, I sat there waiting for her to begin. I figured I was better off only answering her questions and not offering up any more information than I had to.

She finally blew out a long breath and began, "Judging by your reaction, I am guessing it's safe to assume you saw Edward on Christmas Eve."

I nodded again.

"How was it?"

"Not at all what I expected," I said to her, trying to finally answer her directly and honestly without giving anything away. And the truth was, seeing Edward again hadn't been at all what I'd expected so by answering her as I had I wasn't lying to her at all.

"What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what I said. It wasn't at all what I was expecting," I told her.

"Am I going to have to pry the details from you? Since when have you been so reluctant to share anything with me?"

"What do you want me to say, Mom?" I popped up off the couch and flew across the room. It was becoming increasingly clear that I was going to have to say a lot more than I wanted to. It angered me that she was forcing my hand. It angered me that she couldn't just accept the obvious fact that I didn't really want to talk about this with her. And if I was completely honest with myself, it scared me because I had no idea what she'd say about the conversation Edward and I had, had the other night. I was afraid to let her get into my head again and cause me to doubt any of what he'd said to me or belittle the fact that Edward and I might still have feelings for each other after all this time.

"Well, I don't know, Bella. How did he react to seeing you?" I could tell by the surprised almost confused look on her face that she just wasn't getting why I didn't want to share any of the details with her.

"Don't you mean was he upset to see me? How about if he's married or has a girlfriend? Or how 'bout does he hate me for the way I dumped him?"

"No…well not exactly. Yes I would like to know all of those things, but I was more concerned about how you were handling his reactions. I've seen how you've been…I don't know…restless the past few days. I know you've been scanning the help wanted section of the paper and thought maybe you were stressing over finding a job." She paused and let out a long sigh. "It's just now you tell me that's not it. So the only other reasonable conclusion I can draw is that you've seen Edward and you are upset over something."

"Confused, surprised, shocked…maybe even somewhat excited, but not upset."

"Bella, you're still being quite cryptic with your information."

"Like I said before, what do you want me to say?" I mumbled as moved back across the room and sat down, this time in the chair next to the couch, not on the couch with her.

"What are you afraid of telling me, Isabella? Or more importantly _why_ are you afraid to tell me? Please just be honest with me," she pleaded.

If there had been any remaining hope that I could escape this conversation without having to give her any real details, there was none now. I could see she wasn't going to let this go. However, I began to think that maybe it was best to get this all out now when there was only the possibility of having a relationship with Edward again, instead of once we were already involved again. If I got it out of the way now, and laid it all on the table with her, then hopefully it would greatly diminish the possibility of her interfering if and when things did develop between Edward and me again.

"Bella, please. Talk to me," she whispered.

"I don't know if I can."

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid of what your reaction might be," I told her honestly.

"Look, if he was angry or lashed out at you…I will talk to Esme. It's my fault and I will take the blame for his anger. You shouldn't have to pay for my mistakes."

"You'd do that?" I asked completely surprised.

"Yes I would," she stated without an ounce of hesitation. "It's my fault he is so angry at you. I…Bella—what I asked you to do all those years ago was wrong. It was extremely selfish of me and unfortunately by the time I realized it, it was too late."

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, using the same words Edward had said to me a few nights ago. And even if I already had a pretty good idea of why she had done it, courtesy of my conversation with Edward, I wanted to hear it from her in her own words.

"There are so many reasons, Bella. I was still hurting. I was lost, heartbroken over your father's death, scared and also incredibly selfish. I wanted you with me. You are so much like him, Isabella. You were and still are all I have left of him. You were my last tie to him and I couldn't bear to let you go."

"Why didn't you just tell me that?" I asked while fighting the lump forming in my throat. My father's death had been immensely hard on us both and talking about him as we were now brought back some of those feelings I had learned to deal with over the years.

"Pure selfishness," she uttered so softly I could barely hear her. She cleared her throat and then in a slightly louder tone said, "At the time I didn't think it would be enough to keep you with me. I had convinced myself that I had to make you think that it was what was best for Edward if no one else. I could see how much you cared for him. You loved him."

"I still do," I softly replied.

"That doesn't surprise me. You love like your father. You gave your heart away wholly and completely, you never really got it back. I hadn't realized it, how much you loved him, until it was too late and you had already broken things off with him."

"When?" I asked her. "When exactly did you realize how deep my feelings were for him?"

"In all honesty I think I realized I had made a mistake shortly after Christmas. I saw the sadness in your eyes and you got so quiet and kept to yourself so much. But then as time went on you seemed to be coming out of it and I was hopeful that you were moving past it. That is until—"

"Until when, Mother?"

"Until spring break came and you withdrew all over again. I was coming to tell you something one afternoon and I saw you pulling his picture out of your dresser drawer and then wiping away tears. That was when I really saw the magnitude of what I'd done."

"Why didn't you come to me then?"

"I was worried it was too late. I was afraid if I did you'd be on the first plane to Forks and what if you'd gotten there and found he'd moved on without you?"

"That wasn't your choice to make, Mother. You saw my pain and heartbreak and you just let it go," I screamed at her. "You took the choice away from me. I could have at least called him or hell even Alice and asked her. At least if I'd known one way or the other, I wouldn't have spent all these years wondering what might have been. What if Daddy had lived, what if we'd stayed in Forks, or what if I'd come back for Christmas anyway? What would have happened to Edward and me?"

She got up and got down on her knees in front of me. After taking both of my hands in hers she said, "I'm so sorry, baby. You are so right. I can't answer any of those questions for you. I did take the choice from you. I wanted you with me. I don't know what else to say. It was wrong. It was selfish. I don't know what else to say. I wish I could take it all back but I can't."

I pulled my hands from hers and got up. I pushed past her and strode across the room again. I was so angry and hurt I couldn't look at her right then. While I'd given everything I could to her and had done so much for her, never once protesting or questioning her motives, she had taken so much from me.

After pacing back and forth across the floor a few times to help me simmer down a bit, I said to her, "No, you are right about that. You can't take it back. But you can tell me this and I really need for you to be completely honest with me, Mother, because if you don't as soon as I find a job I will be moving out. So if you have any hope of me, of us, moving past this, then I need you to swear to me that you will be one hundred percent straight with me."

"Anything. I promise. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"If we had never come back to Forks, would you have told me any of this? Would you have ever admitted how wrong what you did was?"

The second she closed her eyes and hung her head I knew what her answer was. Without waiting for her to say anything I launched another question at her. "Even when you found out about Gran's health and you knew we were coming back to Forks and I might see him. You weren't even going to tell me then, were you?"

"No," she muttered. I could see the guilt and shame on her face. I could see that she was remorseful. I just didn't know if at this moment it mattered.

I turned my back to her. I needed to rein in my emotions before I said something I regretted. Not only had she taken me away from Edward, but her actions had led me to believe that I'd lost the best friend I'd ever had as well. When I'd received the invitation to Alice and Jasper's wedding, I was so guilt-ridden over breaking up with Edward the way I had that I not only refused to attend the wedding, but I declined her wish to be her maid of honor. I knew he'd be there and I had not been ready to face him at the time. That had been two and a half years ago and the last time I had talked to Alice. We'd kept in touch through emails and occasional phone calls before then, but after she had never made any attempt to contact me until just days before we returned to Forks. She emailed me saying she'd heard of our return through the grapevine, which wasn't hard to believe since nothing was a secret in the small town of Forks, and that she wanted her best friend back.

A couple of days after my arrival, Alice had shown up here and offered to take me to lunch. We'd ended up spending most of the afternoon together and had cleared up everything between her and me. However I'd only given her answers similar to the same ones I'd given Edward the day I broke his heart. At that time I was still convinced that those reasons were real. Now…well now I knew I had let my mother cloud my judgment.

"Bella, sweetheart," she said coming up behind me and putting her hands on my shoulders. "Please let me help you with this. I will talk to Esme or even to Edward if need be. I don't want him to hold this against you anymore. You were young and hurting over your father's death and instead of letting you go be with someone who might help to ease your pain, I forced you to stay with me while I wallowed in my own grief."

"That's _not_ necessary, Mom."

"Yes. Yes it is. I can't let him go on blaming you any longer. I need to make this right. Then…well then maybe you could at least learn to be friends again."

She mumbled something about calling Esme and started to get up. Grabbing her hand I stopped her. "No."

"What do you mean no? I just want to help, honey."

"I said no because for one, it's really not necessary. And two, I don't mean to sound cruel, but you've done enough. I will handle Edward on my own."

I kept going back and forth in my head about how much to tell her. I didn't want her help in dealing with him, but I also didn't want her to go behind my back and try to help. Unfortunately at this point I couldn't be sure she wouldn't go to Esme and try to smooth things over. I wasn't aware of what Esme knew at this point about what was going on between Edward and me. But I wanted it to be done my way without either of our parents interfering. Because if I knew Esme Cullen like I think I did, if my mother breathed one word to her about there being possible tension or harsh words between her son and me, she'd be questioning him left and right. While they both might mean well, neither Edward nor me needed our parents getting involved. Ultimately I decided to tell her enough to placate her. I also wanted her to know that I wouldn't ever give Edward up again if things worked out. He would have to send me away if we were ever to split again.

"I really just want to help any way I can," she reiterated.

"I know you do. But listen to me now, Mother. Whatever happens or doesn't happen between Edward and I will be decided upon by us. I didn't just see Edward on Christmas Eve. We spent quite a bit of time talking."

"You did? That's wonderful, honey."

"Um, yeah," I said letting a sarcastic chuckle out in the process. "Look, Mom, by some miracle he somehow, some way still has feelings for me too. And he seems to think we've been given a second chance. He's ah…he's even asked me out on a date," I said, watching her facial expression change a few times while she mulled over what I'd said.

"Really?" she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Really. But there's…um…something I need to say. And I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but I don't know any other way to say it. So it might be a bit blunt."

"Okay," she said drawing the word out.

"You're right. I never did get my heart back from Edward. I know I dated a few guys over the years in Arizona, but as you know it never lasted no matter how hard I tried. It just never felt right with them. I think now it's because they weren't Edward. My heart still belonged to him even if I didn't know it at the time. I promise to be here for you in any way you need me to for Gran. I will help with her care as much as you need me to. But I have to do this on my own, Mom. I have to see if there is still something between us and I don't want you interfering."

"I understand and of course you want to see where it will go. And I know you will be here to help with your grandmother. I mean, you quit your job to come here with me."

"That's something else I need to talk to you about." I took a few seconds to gather the right words. While I wanted to be sure my mother understood where I was coming from, I didn't want to hurt her. "Gran's doctors say she doesn't have much time left. I don't know how it's been being back here in Forks for you, and I don't know what your plans are for, um…later," I said unable to actually think much less speak of my grandmother passing. "Mom, what I'm trying to say is, if this works out for me and Edward, maybe even if it doesn't, I'm staying in Forks. If you want to go back to Arizona or wherever, I won't be going with you. This is my home. Where I belong."

I knew that she couldn't stop me this time and I could have stayed in Arizona had I chosen to do so. But I wanted to spend some time with my grandmother while I still could and in all honesty I did want to see Edward. I had hoped to maybe apologize to him and have a civil relationship with him, but things were turning out so much better than I could have ever dreamed of. _Well maybe not dreamed of because God knows I've dreamt of being with him again and hearing him tell me he still loved me. _

I didn't know what my mother's response would be, but I was totally unprepared for what she said next.

"My beautiful baby girl, I love you so much. You are right. It is absolutely time for you to live your life as you see fit. It's time for you to live for you and only you. For what you want. I hope and pray that I haven't ruined things for you and Edward and I pray you can find love again. If not with him then someone else. You are no longer a child. Although looking back I'm not sure you were still a child at seventeen. I want you to do whatever you need to make yourself happy. That is all I've ever truly wanted for you. Just know that I am here for you should you need me. I love you, Isabella."

"I love you too, Mom."

"Can you ever forgive me?" she asked as we hugged.

"Yes. It's going to be hard for me at first. You really hurt me. But give me some time. Okay?"

We hugged each other again before she pulled away and rambled off a slew of questions. "Now tell me about this date. Do you have something to wear? Do we need to go shopping? I can arrange for the nurse to be with Gran. Do you need money?"

"Woah, hang on a second, Mom," I said holding my hands up to show her she really needed to stop and listen to me. "I actually do need to go shopping, but I'm going to ask Alice to go with me. With Christmas and everything else, I haven't had a lot of time with her. So I'm going to see if she is willing."

Despite the look of sadness I saw flash across her face, she smiled and said, "She always had such a great sense for fashion. That will be great for the two of you." She continued to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes, telling me just how disappointed she was.

"I'm sorry," I told her. And I really was sorry. I didn't want to hurt her and I didn't expect my newly found independence to be easy on my mother. It had been just me and her for the past six years. In fact I think she was probably more dependent on me that I was on her.

"No, don't be. I meant what I said before. This is what you need." That much she was right about.

I left to find my phone and call Alice. I knew it wasn't going to be easy on my mother and at times probably not for me either. But it was time for me to do this. I needed to do this. I had spent six years with "what ifs" running through my head, now it was time to answer as many of those "what ifs" as I could and really live my life. For me.

***X*X*X*X***

_**December 31, 2010**_

I had just stepped out of the shower and was in the process of getting ready for my date with Edward. Alice had been extremely willing to go shopping with me—her eagerness really shouldn't have surprised me. She had been busy the afternoon I called her so we had made plans to go yesterday. It hadn't left me much time either as her party had been only a day away. However I'd been confident that with Alice's help I'd have no problems finding a dress. My dress hunt had also been aided by the fact that since I had still been living with my mother in Arizona, most of the money I had earned from the job I'd had there was sitting in my bank account. That afforded me the ability to purchase a dress that would dazzle Edward's socks off.

What really worked in my favor was the fact that Alice had also invited me to her party. Therefore I didn't have to tell her that I'd be escorted to the event by her brother. One of the first questions that had come out of Alice's mouth upon her picking me up for our shopping adventure was about my and Edward's talk. Apparently he hadn't been very forthcoming with any details, other than the fact that we had talked and had gotten some answers that we'd both needed. She said he'd told her that if and when we were both ready, we'd fill her in. After I reiterated Edward's sentiments she left it alone which really surprised me. Oh she'd fake pouted for a few minutes, Alice hadn't ever been one to give up on getting the scoop, but when she saw I wasn't going to budge, she didn't press. Maybe she had changed more than I'd thought. Whatever her reason for not prying was I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

We had opted to shop in Port Angeles instead of going all the way to Seattle like she had first suggested when I'd called her. I wanted something fantastic; it didn't have to be a one of a kind type dress, but definitely something different that wasn't mass produced. Alice said the small dress shops and boutiques in the Port area would be perfect for finding just that sort of dress. She'd been absolutely one hundred percent correct. After searching through racks upon racks of the little black dresses I knew most women would wear to a party similar to Alice's, I'd found my dress.

If I'd had any doubt it was the one, the second Alice shrieked loud enough to catch the attention of every patron in the boutique, they were instantly erased.

It had been the color that had first caught my attention, purple, which was my favorite color and also the color Edward used to comment about loving on me. It was a fun, sassy and sexy cutaway shoulder lace mini dress. Alice had said the dress really was perfect for me. Enough sexy with one side completely bare but still safe enough for my tastes with the other shoulder and arm covered in purple lace. She said I'd have all the available men's heads turning. I couldn't help but wonder if she was including her brother in that statement and what he'd think if I did attract that kind of attention.

Used to the warm Arizona air, my skin was protesting the cold Forks air and was drying out. As I sat on the edge of my bed to smooth some lotion on my legs, I caught sight of the fringe of Edward's scarf I still had peeking out from under my pillow. Maybe it was a bit weird, but I'd been sleeping with it, and his hat he'd put on me, since Christmas Eve.

I pulled the scarf from under my pillow where I'd kept it hidden and rubbed it against my cheek. It was incredibly soft and still smelt of Edward. Thinking of the other night, his words came back to me.

"_I think we are being given a second chance here. It might be scary, but no risk, no reward."_

Of course thoughts of a second chance with him only led to me thinking about the kiss he'd planted on me a short time later. Those thoughts led to my lips tingling again just as they had when he'd finally let me come up for air. _Air was overrated. Edward's lips on mine was pure bliss. Six years certainly hadn't left him unable to leave me swooning and breathless and I was willing to risk just about anything to be with him this time._

My phone ringing jarred me from my thoughts. The caller ID box showed it was Edward.

"Hi," I answered. I could feel myself blush as if he could somehow read my mind and know I'd been thinking of kissing him.

"Hi, beautiful. I hear all the unattached men of Forks are going to be lining up and fighting for your attention tonight. Something about a dress that would make grown men cry."

"The dress _is _nice. What exactly did your sister tell you about it?" I was curious as to what Alice had told him and if she'd been trying to play matchmaker despite my telling her that Edward and I only talked and nothing more. I wondered if he'd told her he was bringing me to the party.

"My sister? Not the tiniest of details. However Jasper seemed to be full of them. Apparently Alice had been going on and on about finding the perfect dress for you and how no single man was going to be able to take his eyes off of you. She may have also said something about finding you a man."

_Guess I can't wring her neck for sharing with her husband, and hopefully the man had already found me._

"Interesting," I told him. "She may have said something similar to me."

_Nothing like seeing how he reacted to a little competition._

"Bella, there is only one single man in Forks who is going to get anywhere near you tonight."

"Oh really? Who might that be?" I couldn't resist teasing him as my face threatened to split in half from the huge grin that was plastered on it.

"I think you know who, Miss Swan."

"No, I'm not quite sure. Maybe you could enlighten me, Mr. Cullen."

"Let's me just say this, Isabella." I loved the way my name sounded in the husky tone of his voice. "If I have my way, neither one of us will be single by the end of the night."

_Damn he had me swooning again from being all caveman and possessive._

"Hmm, staking your claim, Mr. Cullen?"

"Damn right I am, Bella. So be ready for me to sweep you off your feet."

I was so ready for him to do just that. I'd been so hesitant all week to be really truly hopeful about what might happen between us. But now it seemed as though my worrying was for nothing. Edward had made himself pretty clear and now I could only hope that the night went as he planned.

"Well in that case, I had better finish getting ready. Was there a reason for your call or was it just to warn me of your intentions?"

"Actually there was. I've been helping Jasper with some of the last minute decorations and it took longer than expected. I wanted to let you know I'll probably be about fifteen minutes late picking you up."

"Okay. You know I could meet you there if you need me to."

"Now what kind of a date would I be if I allowed you to drive yourself? I don't think so. We should still arrive on time to the party."

"So old fashioned."

"No. You better than anyone should know my mother raised me to be a gentleman."

He was right about that. I remembered many times in high school when Esme had pulled him by his ear or swatted him on the back of the head if she'd thought he'd been rude.

"You're right. I'll see you soon."

"Bella, wait," he blurted into the phone.

"Yes, Edward?"

"I can't wait," he said in a tone much softer than he'd used during the entire phone call. I could hear all the emotion in his voice. It gave me hope that his feelings for me were just as deep as mine were for him.

"Neither can I," I whispered before telling him goodbye.

A short time later I was ready to go except for my hair. It wasn't as long as it used to be, only going a couple of inches past my shoulders, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to leave it down or attempt some sort of an up-do.

After pulling and twisting and playing with my hair for about twenty minutes, I had finally managed to secure it into three small, loosely twisted buns close to the nape of my neck with a few wispy strands framing my face to soften the look. It was more formal than leaving it down, yet still dressy and also soft and romantic. Once I was satisfied it was going to stay in place, I touched up my lip gloss and then tossed a few necessary items into a small clutch purse before heading down stairs to wait for Edward.

Edward must have either gotten ready at super human speed or driven like a bat out of hell to get here because he was barely five minutes late. For a brief second as I watched him walking up to the door, my conversation with my mother crossed my mind and I was grateful she was upstairs with Gran, watching one of those classic movies they reran every year at this time.

I let go of the blind slat I was peeking out of and sat down on the couch, trying to appear as though I was patiently waiting for him. When I heard his footsteps on the porch it took everything in me to keep from running to the door and flinging it open before he'd even had a chance to ring the doorbell.

The second the bell rang, I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself and walked as slowly as I could force myself to the front door.

_Hopefully he hadn't heard the rapid clicking of my heels on the hardwood floors in my rush to the door. _

**~*Edward*~**

I chuckled to myself, hearing the clickety-clack of Bella's shoes coming across the floor after I'd rang the door bell. It excited me that she was as eager for our date as I was.

"Hi," she said with a wide toothy grin on her face as she opened the door.

I felt my heart stutter at the sight of her. I couldn't think of an appropriate word to describe how fucking gorgeous she was. I was unable to take my eyes off her or make any words come out of my mouth. I just stood there staring at her, completely stunned speechless by her beauty. The way her dress clung to her and defined every curve of her body suddenly had me feeling the need to adjust my pants.

"Edward, are you okay?" I was quickly aware of Bella snapping her fingers and waving her hand in front of my face. "You looked a little flushed. You need a drink of water or something?"

"Um…yeah. A drink of water would be great. I'm…a…just a little overheated from keeping the heater turned up in the car so it's warm for you," I told her, hoping to have a minute to compose myself. But damn if the back view of her wasn't almost as tantalizing as the front.

_Better get a hold of yourself, Cullen. Your body might be ready for things to get physical, but there's no way that's happening tonight. It's way too soon._

I stepped into the house and shut the door while I waited for her to return with the water. Once she did I downed the whole thing in a couple of gulps.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked after she returned from placing the empty glass in the sink.

"Yes. You sure you're okay? You're still a little flushed."

"I'll be fine. If I'm still warm once we get to the inn I'll take my jacket off."

She nodded and then opened the entryway closet door and pulled out her coat. After helping her put it on, we made our way outside.

"Where's your truck?" she asked when she noticed the Aston Martin sitting in her driveway.

"At home," I told her as I opened the car door for her. I pulled her against me and said, "I thought a special occasion deserved a special car. And this is definitely a special occasion, Bella." I then leaned down and kissed her softly.

Knowing we'd be surrounded by people most the night, I couldn't resist sliding my hand up her arm until I was cupping the back of her neck and turning her head so I could deepen the kiss.

"Mmm, cherry," I murmured before sucking her bottom lip into my mouth for another taste of her and her lip gloss.

***X*X*X*X***

"I still can't believe Alice rented the entire Inn for her party," Bella said as we pulled up in front of the quaint two story building.

"Alice is still Alice. She never does anything small. Ever."

"No I guess she never was one for plain and simple or quick and easy," Bella said through her giggles.

"Nope, you should have seen her and Jasper's wedding. You'd have thought the Queen of England had been getting married."

The second I saw the expression of guilt appear on Bella's face and the sparkle disappear from her eyes, I regretted what I'd said. _Had she been invited to their wedding?_ All I knew was she hadn't been there and for some reason that appeared to upset her. It made me wonder if her mother had stopped her from attending.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" I asked as I helped her out of the car and handed my keys to the parking attendant.

"It's nothing. I'll be okay." When she didn't look me in the eye, I knew that she was anything but okay.

As soon as we entered the building, I pulled her into a small sitting room off to the side. I wanted to put a smile back on her face and do it before we were surrounded by half the town of Forks.

"Bella, please don't hide from me. I thought we'd gotten past that the other night. I know there may still be things we need to talk about, but I can't bear to see you look so sad or to see you pull away from me again."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

I took her hand and led her to the small wing backed loveseat.

"Bella…I…I know we still have some talking to do and now isn't really the time to get into it. But can you at least tell me why the mention of Alice and Jasper's wedding had you looking like you were about to burst into tears?" I was still holding her hand and had begun to run my thumb back and forth across it in a soothing manner, but I wasn't sure it was solely for her benefit. It was soothing me too—just being able to touch her. It was almost as if until she said the words and told me she was mine again, I was afraid she'd disappear again.

"She never told you, did she?" Bella asked hesitantly.

"Alice?" I questioned, making sure it was my sister we were both talking about.

Bella nodded.

"Um, I guess not since I have no clue what you're talking about. But considering your reaction to my statement earlier, I'm pretty sure it has to do with her wedding. Am I right?"

"Yeah. You see, you aren't the only one I've hurt by staying away all these years."

"What are you talking about? I thought you and Alice had kept in touch through the years."

"We did for a while. But then I hurt her too," she whispered. "When I declined to be her maid of honor and then failed to even show up to the wedding, well… let's just say that was the last time I heard from her."

"Jesus, Bella. You're mom really did a number on you, didn't she?"

She let out a long sigh and looked down at our joined hands instead of at me as she spoke. "She did and we had a bit of a blow up over it the other day, which I promise to tell you about another time, but I'm afraid the wedding fiasco is a bad decision I made as a result of the fallout from what my mother had done. But ultimately I still feel guilty because I had the chance then to see you, to see Alice, and I didn't. I knew you'd be there and I was too afraid to see you. I wasn't ready to face you yet, so I was a big coward and I stayed away. By doing so I hurt Alice."

I couldn't help but get furious at Renee Swan all over again. Bella was still beating herself up over choices she made that were set into motion by her mother's selfishness. It may have been Bella's decision to stay home from the wedding, but her decision was fueled by the guilt her mother had dumped on her years before. Had Renee not coerced Bella into staying home that first Christmas, everything would have been so different. Not only had she toyed with Bella's life by doing what she had done, but she had altered mine and Alice's as well. Somehow it made me only more determined to set things right between Bella and me.

Releasing her hand, I stood and immediately caught her attention. I could see sadness and fear filling her eyes; she must have thought I was going to walk away from her. She was so very, very wrong. I had to make her smile again because I knew if I didn't do that quickly there would be tears filling her eyes too. Tonight was supposed to be a fun, amazing time for us and I wasn't going to let it be tarnished by something that happened years ago.

I held my hand out to her. "Come on, I have a surprise for you. It was supposed to be for later, but I can see how much it's needed now. I think you can already see by Alice's actions how willing she is to let the past be in the past and move on. So now it's my turn to show you I am too."

I led her through the inn to the double wide French doors which led to the gazebo that overlooked the river gorge below.

The instant I opened one of the doors, Bella gasped as she saw the Japanese lantern lit pathway and the gazebo covered in thousands of twinkle lights.

"Edward. It's—oh my God…it's just like your prom night. I can't believe you did this for me."

Placing my hand on the small of her back, I nudged her forward to the light covered structure.

"Why? What's so hard to believe about me doing this for you?" I asked as I stood behind her and watched the last rays of the sun sink below the gorge ahead of us. "Look at me, Bella." She turned so she was facing me and leaned against the rail of the gazebo. I lifted her chin with my finger until our gaze met. "You and Alice have no doubt talked and worked out your differences, right?"

"Yes. We talked some my first afternoon back and again when we went shopping the other day."

"She's forgiven you for the wedding and everything?"

"Yes."

"But with all I've said and even my recreating my prom night, it's still hard for you to accept that I have forgiven you too. Why is that?"

"Because it's different. I may have hurt Alice a lot with my actions, but I didn't rip her heart out like I did yours."

"Bella, I—"

"No I need to say this, please."

I nodded for her to continue.

"I know that's what I did, Edward. I know because if your heart hurt anywhere near as badly as mine did, then I know I ripped it out. There's really nothing you can say to make be believe otherwise."

"Like I told you the other night, it hurt. I'd be lying if I told you anything other than it hurt like hell. And I can tell you that breaking up with every other girlfriend I've had since, has never hurt me as bad as losing you did."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry."

She started to push past me and leave but I caught her arm and spun her to face me. Cupping her face in my hands I continued with what I wanted to say to her before she became so upset. "Please, just hear me out. You're misunderstanding. I'm not telling you this to hurt you. I'm telling you because it's a testament to how much I cared about you. It only hurt me so much because I've never cared for anyone else the way I do for you. And I still do, Bella. That's why I did all this. I wanted this night to be special and magical for you. For us," I told her as I waved my hand around to indicate the decorations.

"I…I don't know what to say," she murmured as she flicked away a few tears that trickled from her eyes. "I keep waiting for something to wake me up and to find that this has all been a dream."

"Oh, sweetheart, I promise you it's not a dream. It's real, I'm real and my feelings for you are very real." To help prove my point I kissed her. I kissed her hard and with passion, pouring all the emotion I was feeling into it so that there'd be no doubt left in her mind. When I finally pulled away, her chest was heaving as she sucked in enough air to catch her breath. "Is that real enough for ya? Do you believe me now?"

"Yes," she said in between the breaths of air she was still sucking in.

"Does that mean you're ready to enjoy the party now? Alice is probably twitching with worry that neither of us is going to show."

"We certainly don't want Alice to twitch," Bella said with a smile returning to her beautiful face.

"Eh, it won't hurt her to do it every now and then. It keeps her on her toes," I told her, causing her to giggle. "You are so beautiful when you laugh. Your whole face lights up. I'm going to make it my mission to keep that smile there the rest of the night." I placed a soft kiss on her lips and then said, "Let's go find Alice."

"Okay, I need to find the restroom first. I don't want to go in there looking like a raccoon with makeup smeared all under my eyes."

"You'd be the cutest raccoon I ever saw," I teased.

She smacked me playfully on the arm as we made our way inside to the restrooms. It didn't take Alice any more than a few seconds to spot me while I waited for Bella by the hall leading to the Ladies room.

"It's about time you got here, big brother," she said while giving me a hug.

"I've been here. Where were you?" I asked her.

"Well, I guess I must have missed you. I've been busy looking for someone else and I'm worried she's backed out at the last minute."

"Really? Who?" I knew exactly who she was talking about but asked anyway just to be able to build up the surprise for when she realized Bella was here with me. Jasper had promised me he'd keep it a secret when he was here helping me earlier and it appeared he had.

"What are you doing standing here anyways? Oh and it's Bella I'm looking for," she said as she looked around some more. "Oh," she exclaimed like she'd just had some sort of brilliant idea pop into her head. "You never told me how your talk with her went the other night. Care to share, big brother?"

"No," I told her knowing it would annoy her. I wasn't sure how much Bella had shared with her and until then I wasn't saying anything.

"Edward," she whined. "Bella wouldn't tell me much either. Just that you guys talked about the past and that's it."

"We did." It was almost impossible not to smile and give anything away.

"Come on. Please," she pouted while dragging out the word.

"Sorry, Munchkin. If Bella wants you to know, she will tell you. Besides here comes my date so now isn't the time," I replied after seeing Bella exit the restroom and head towards me.

"Date!" Alice shrieked. "You didn't tell me you were bringing a date."

"It was a last minute thing. Sue me." I couldn't help laughing at her. However when Bella walked up and linked her arm around mine and smiled brightly up at me, I found myself wishing I had a camera so I could capture the look of shear stunned shock on my sister's face. It was absolutely priceless.

Alice looked back and forth between Bella and me a couple of times and then down the hall like she was expecting some other woman to appear there and claim to be my date. As I brushed my hand gently across Bella's check and asked her if she was better now, I caught out of the corner of my eye Alice frozen and staring at the two of us with her mouth gaping open.

"I do believe she's speechless," I said softly next to Bella's ear, but loud enough so that I knew Alice had heard too.

"I didn't think it was possible," Bella teased.

"Ugh! The two of you owe me an explanation. Now talk," Alice demanded, recovering quickly.

"You know, I think I liked it better when you were speechless," I told my sister. Bella giggled and then nodded her head in agreement.

"What's to explain? Bella is my date."

"But—but, when? How?"

"He asked and I said yes when we talked on Christmas Eve," Bella offered.

"But why didn't you tell me? And what does this mean for the two of you? Are you back together?"

I knew if I let Alice continue with her wave of questioning we could very well end up answering them all night and still not be finished. "Alice, you are supposed to be hosting a party. Are we going to play Question & Answer all night? Wouldn't you prefer we enjoyed the party? Isn't that why we're here?"

"I suppose you're right," she said stomping her foot lightly on the floor. It reminded me of when we were kids. "But we're not done here. The two of you will talk," she added before turning and heading off.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. What'd you say we go find something to eat?" I asked Bella as we both laughed at Alice's tirade.

The rest of the night was near perfect. Bella had gotten a few evil looks from a few of my ex's and Alice's mutual friends, but neither of us let it bother us. We spent our time dancing, laughing, catching up with people she knew from before she'd moved and visiting with my parents. My mother had sported a beaming smile on her face when she'd seen Bella and me walking towards her and my father hand in hand. I knew my mother, really both of my parents, had thought of Bella as another one of their children almost from the moment they'd met her. I was sure that they'd be thrilled if we were to officially become a couple again.

Hoping to accomplish that goal, I excused us from the conversation we were having with Emmett and Rose when I saw it was about fifteen minutes before midnight. I was determined to make Bella mine again before the end of the year. Taking her hand, I led her to the gazebo again. Reaching the center of the star design on the gazebo floor, I pulled her into my arms.

"I hope you've had a good time tonight," I whispered against her ear.

"I have. Thank you so much. It's been amazing to see everyone and catch up. But most of all to be with you." She rose up on the tips of her toes and pressed a kiss to the underside of my jaw. "How about you?" she asked. "Has it been fun for you too?"

"It has. There's just one more thing that would make it perfect."

"Mmm, what's that?" she asked curiously.

"For you to be mine again—officially. I know we may still have to work though some of the emotions from what's happened in the past, and there are things to learn about each other, but I'm confident we can. I meant it the other night when I said I believe we've been given a second chance and I think we could best work through those things together. So, Isabella Marie Swan, will you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my girlfriend again?"

I was practically holding my breath as I held her and waited for her answer and prayed she didn't shoot me down. I had first seen the look of shock and disbelief cross her face and had worried that maybe I was pressing her for too much too soon. I felt a little better when her expression changed and her eyes went wide with surprise as she realized she hadn't imagined it. She actually looked around a bit as if she were double checking where she was.

When her facial features softened and I could see her emotions taking over and I felt her heart pounding in her chest as I had that night so many years ago, I could see she was almost finished digesting what I'd asked her and the sparkle in her eyes gave me hope I was about to get the answer I wanted.

She took a deep breath and pulled her upper lip between her teeth to chew on before looking straight into my eyes. "You want me to be your girlfriend again?" she asked needing me to confirm it for her.

"Yes."

"And you're sure about this?"

"That's why I'm asking."

"Yes." Her voice wavered from all the emotion she was feeling and her eyes glistened with tears.

"Yes?" I asked as if I needed to be sure that's what she'd said.

"Yes," she repeated so confidently and with a smile so bright it could have lit the night sky brighter than the fireworks that had begun to explode above us to signify the start of the New Year. It also told me there were no doubts in her mind about her answer. She wanted this just as much as I did.

Without waiting any longer, I captured her lips with mine to ring in the new year with a kiss to not only signify the beginning of a new year, but of a new beginning for Bella and me. When we broke apart, I lifted her in my arms and twirled her around a few times before setting her back on her feet.

As the notes of Auld Lang Syne drifted out to the gazebo, I held Bella in my arms and danced slowly to the music. Pulling her closer to me and burying my face in her hair, I closed my eyes letting the moment and my emotions take over. Many thoughts of how over the years I'd often wished she'd come back and be mine again scurried through my head. I briefly thought about how I wished I'd known back then why she had never come back, because I would have gone after her and done everything I could have to change her mind. As I felt her nuzzle her face against my chest, I realized that the past was the past and despite still having some resentment for what her mother had done, we couldn't change it. She was here now and she _was_ mine again, that was what was important. Accepting that realization, I smiled and pressed a soft kiss against her hair. All I could think about is how sometimes things aren't exactly what you always imagine they'll be…they're better.

**There ya go, our favorite couple is back together. What did you think of Renee's reasoning? Hopefully things continue to go as smoothly for them as it did on their date.**

**The Polyvore with a picture of Bella's dress is up under the page for this story on my blog. Also a teaser for chapter 3 will be on the blog and The Fictionators website on Monday. In the next chapter we'll be having a bit of a time jump to move things along for them. **

**Want something, new, different and exciting to read? Go read_ Beneath The Surface_ by My-Bella and myself. We're taking Edward and Bella on an adventure like nothing they have ever gone on before. It's posted on My-Bella's profile page and you can find the link on my profile page. **

**Here is the summary: One summer, an internship in Africa, bloodlust, sharp teeth, and a boatload of fear are all that stand in the way of Bella Cullen landing a job at the Atlanta Aquarium - As long as she doesn't count cocky shark expert Edward Masen on her list.**

**See ya next time. Thanks for reading. **

**EA**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Friday everyone. I just want to take a second and thank all of you for all of the awesome reviews you have given me. It seems everyone is in agreement that Renee overstepped her boundaries as a parent when she messed with Edward and Bella's relationship, even if she was still grieving over Charlie's death. This chapter jumps ahead in time a bit so we can move things along for our favorite couple. Hope you like it, see you at the bottom. As always there is a picture on my blog to go with this chapter under the tab titled after the story.  
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**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer:**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author**_**. Unauthorized**__** use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_** The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. And of course just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended. **

_**Eight months later**_

_**August 24, 2011**_

**~*Bella*~**

The past eight months had gone by so fast it hardly felt liked I'd been back in Forks for almost a year already. Between spending as much time as I could with Edward, looking for a job, and helping as much as I could with Gran, the time had flown by. But I guess that's what was bound to happen when you were juggling all of your time trying to make sure you spent enough of it with the man of your dreams and your dying grandmother, not to mention becoming just as close with Alice as we'd been before I'd left Forks.

"Here," my mom said, walking up behind me with my grandmother's jewelry box in her hands. We'd spent the day going through all of Gran's things trying to decide what we wanted to keep and what to donate. There was a sadness in my mother's eyes that told me she missed Gran just as much as I did. "Your grandmother wanted you to have what's in here."

"Mom—what—No, she was your mother, you should have her jewelry," I sputtered in protest as my mom held the wooden box out to me.

"I've already taken the few pieces I wanted as well as those I knew she wanted me to have. But the rest is for you." She continued to hold the box out to me.

The past several weeks had been hard on us both as we grieved over the loss of my grandmother. I knew it had been particularly hard on my mother as it dredged up a lot of those emotions she had felt when my father had died. It was hard for me too, but I somehow handled it much better than her. Maybe it was because I had Edward to help comfort me. He had been there for me every step of the way, staying here in Forks at his parent's house so he could be close to me when I needed him.

I tried to be there for my mother as much as I could, but she seemed to push me away at times and cling to me in others, making it hard to tell what she needed. So I just did what I could when she let me.

"Are you sure?" I asked her as I hesitantly took the box from her while I searched her eyes for the truth.

"Yes," my mother replied sincerely. "She made sure I was well aware of what she wanted before she passed."

I nodded and lifted the lid. I fought to control the wave of emotions that were washing over me. As I focused through my tears on the glittering trinkets in the box, I found it was still hard to believe Gran was gone even though it had been two months now since she'd passed. Despite the fact I'd spent many afternoons and evenings reading to her, watching television with her or just talking, I still wished I'd had more time with her. I'd love to have just one more afternoon with her enjoying her favorite TV show or listening to her telling me stories about when my mom was little. A small smile formed on my lips as I remembered how she'd had a thing for watching Betty White on the _Golden Girls_. I had to admit I found the show pretty entertaining myself.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I looked up at my mom and thanked her. She hugged me and then said, "I'm going to get a few more boxes out of the garage," giving me a few minutes alone with my grandmother's memories.

"Okay."

With the thud of my mother's footsteps fading as she made her way down the stairs, I looked back to the pieces of jewelry my grandmother had left me. My eyes instantly went to the locket I remembered her wearing when I was a little girl. I remembered once asking her what was inside of it and she'd told me her heart. At the time I hadn't really understood since I was only about four years old. But as I sat on the edge of her bed and opened the locket, I instantly knew what she'd meant when I saw the tiny picture of my grandfather inside.

My thoughts traveled to a conversation I'd had with Gran a couple of weeks before she'd died.

"_I want you to promise me to always remember one thing, my dear_."

"_Sure, Gran, anything," I'd promised, knowing if it was an important enough promise for her to ask of me that it was surely one worth making and keeping._

"_Never let go of true love once you find it. If the love you feel for any young man is real and true it's worth whatever you have to endure to hold onto it."_

"_I will. I promise."_

"_Just as long as you don't lose who you are in the process. No man is worth being untrue to yourself. And that's the beauty of true love, it or him would never ask you to do such a thing." _

The sun peaked out long enough to cause the gold locket dangling between my fingers to shine in its light, bringing my thoughts back to the present. I smiled to myself knowing that Gran was absolutely right.

I was fairly certain she had been talking about Edward and me. I knew that she had been aware that we'd dated before and that we were again. In fact she had even told me what a handsome young man she thought he was "a real looker" she'd said. At the time, I had felt like she'd been looking straight into my heart and could see how much he meant to me and was telling me not to let him go again. What Gran hadn't known was that I would never let Edward go again willingly. He'd have to be the one to end things and even then I think I might still try to fight for him. I'd found true love and I knew I'd do whatever it took to hang on to it this time.

"Bella, are you coming? Let's get this done." I heard my mom calling me from downstairs to come help her finish packing up the things we'd carried downstairs.

"Yeah be right there."

I carefully placed Gran's locket back in the box and took it to my room and then made my way back downstairs. As I began packing again, I thought about the time I'd spent here with Edward.

After our magical New Year's Eve date, Edward and I had spent the next few months catching up on all we had done during the time we had been apart, along with getting to know each other again. It hadn't taken me long to fall completely head over heels in love with him again.

That wasn't to say that our relationship hadn't hit some bumpy spots. Those first few months, as we got to know each other again, were a little tenuous at times. It had taken us a few disagreements before we completely trusted and believed in our feelings for each other.

It had seemed that despite the fact we both desperately wanted a second chance at our relationship, some of the ghosts from our past had still haunted us until we'd finally gotten them out in the open and had laid them to rest.

I'd been afraid to really accept he didn't harbor any resentment towards me over the way I'd ended things between us the first time and as a result failed to let myself truly relax and believe in his feelings for me.

On the other side of things, Edward had been secretly afraid that once Gran passed I'd leave Forks again. He'd told me he was afraid my mom would use her death as she had my father's to lure me away again. I had assured him it wouldn't happen and once we'd finally got all of our insecurities out in the open and discussed them, it became much easier for us to be ourselves and enjoy what we had while falling in love all over again. And let me tell you falling in love with Edward Cullen the second time was so much better than the first.

Our love was different this time because we were different. We had both grown and become adults and while that sweet, starry eyed kind of love you experience the first time you fall was great, having suffered heartbreak and being a more mature person really did add to the level of intensity of our feelings for one another. Not that I would diminish what we had felt for each other in high school, because I don't doubt that we did love each other, but it was just different now. Better, stronger, and more powerful.

In the process of falling for and getting to know each other again, I learned Edward had gotten a teaching degree in college and was the math and music teacher at the high school in Port Angeles, which was named after the town just like Forks High. He also gave some private piano and guitar lessons a couple of days a week after school.

Edward's career choice hadn't surprised me at all. He'd always liked school, he'd been a math whiz kid and well…anyone who knew Edward knew about his love of music. So the fact that he taught pre-calculus, calculus, and music seemed to fit him perfectly. Although I had teased him when he'd told me why he'd chosen the high school in Port Angeles, and not the one here in Forks.

"_It would have been just so weird to be teaching alongside some of the teachers that had taught us when we were there," _he had claimed.

I'd told him he was just worried about old Mrs. Cope still being there and eyeing him like she used to when we were in school. It had creeped us all out the way she would smile at Edward any time she'd see him. He hadn't admitted it, but the horrified look on his face, along with the slight blush, when I'd mentioned her told me it was at least part of the reason. A couple of his other reasons had been better pay in the bigger city as well as it offered him a little more privacy since Forks was so small and everyone knew everything about everyone. Both of which were reasons I couldn't argue with.

He'd told me how his beloved Volvo had died right before he graduated college and that Emmett, who was with the Seattle Mariners, had bought him the Aston Martin as a graduation present much to their parents' dismay. We had both laughed when he'd said he'd thought he was pretty cool, fresh out of college driving around in a hot little sports car. That was until the first time he'd driven it in the snow. He'd said it was then that he realized he was going to have to get another vehicle and that was how his shiny silver truck came to be.

I'd filled him in on my getting a degree in Journalism with a minor in Literature and then we'd had the dreaded talk about our dating histories. He'd had a couple of long term relationships and had been broken up with his most recent girlfriend about three weeks before I had returned to Forks, stating that they had grown apart and lost interest in each other and it had been a mutual decision. I'd told Edward about my one long term relationship and how it had started to crumble when the guy had been ready to take our relationship to the next level—living together—and I hadn't been ready. It was only a short time later that Jimmy broke things off with me completely because I couldn't tell him if I'd ever be ready. All of that had been about a year before the move back to Forks and I hadn't dated anyone in all that time. Edward's response had been something similar to my mom's; he'd felt I hadn't been ready because I'd never gotten my heart back from him.

"How much do you got left over there?" my mother asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I think this is the last of it," I told her as I taped the box I had just finished packing full of Gran's things shut.

"Good, I'm ready for a glass of iced tea," she said as she moved around me and headed out to the porch with a box. "Want one?" she asked looking over her shoulder back to me.

"No thanks," I said as I bent to pick up a box.

I had taken the day off from my job at The Peninsula Times in Port Angeles to help her pack up some of Gran's things. I'd been there for about six weeks and was really enjoying my job as Junior Editor.

The Editor had been a little leery at first of hiring me since I'd only been out of college for about a year at the time I'd applied. However since I'd had a similar position in Arizona and my boss down there had given me a glowing recommendation, he'd agreed to give me a shot at the position, saying inexperienced or not, I'd been the most qualified applicant he'd received and he couldn't wait any longer to fill the position.

As sad as I had been to see my grandmother pass, I was grateful she was no longer suffering and that I'd had several months with her. Last December when my mother and I had moved back to Forks, we had been told by Gran's doctors that she had maybe three to five months due to the deteriorated state of her heart. They had said it all depended on how long her heart held on. While it pained me that she had refused the open heart surgery that could have possibly enabled to her to be with us longer, I also understood her reasoning for not going through with it. She had stated that she was eighty-six years old and had lived a wonderful, full life and was ready for whatever God had in store for her. She had been with us a month longer than they'd thought she would be and I had seen each day with her as a blessing.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket indicating I had a text as I set the last box on the porch for the charity that was going to pick them up in the morning. Pulling the phone from my pocket, I saw Edward's name on the screen.

_Edward: Wanna grab some dinner? My last private lesson canceled so I'm all yours for the rest of the evening if ya want._

_Bella: Do you really need to ask if I want? :)_

_Edward: No not really, but I know you were helping your mom. I can be there in about an hour and a half. I just want to run home and change real quick. Sound good?_

_Bella: Sounds perfect. What'd ya have in mind for dinner?_

_Edward: Let's do casual. It's been a long week._

_Bella: Works for me. I'll see ya soon._

_Edward: Love you._

_Bella: Love you too. _

I could practically hear the fatigue in his text. His summer vacation had come to an end and he'd gone back to work last week. While the first week had been teachers only, his classroom this week had been full of students. He'd also started giving after school music lessons again.

I knew he loved offering music lessons, but I couldn't help being happy that his last appointment had canceled. It meant I got to see him sooner this evening than planned. I hadn't seen him since Tuesday evening when we'd met after work for dinner. It may have only been three days, which wasn't really a long time, but I had seen him every day over the summer and adjusting to the new routine was hard. I had missed him more than I thought humanly possible and couldn't wait to see him.

Thinking about how tired he must be gave me an idea for dinner. It would be quiet, romantic and just the two of us.

"Mom," I hollered when making my way back inside and heading to the kitchen. I thought she'd be in there drinking her tea but she wasn't.

"Up here," I heard her call as I pulled open the fridge door.

"I'll be up in a sec," I called back to her.

I was happy to see we had plenty of stuff for the picnic dinner I had decided upon. I was a little tired myself and thought a nice quiet dinner by the lake would be better than dragging ourselves to a restaurant or getting takeout. I grabbed the picnic basket and an old blanket out of the hall closet and set them on the kitchen table until after my shower.

After hurrying up the stairs, I found my mom in her room.

"I just wanted to let ya know, I'm going to shower and then Edward is picking me up for dinner. I'm going to pack us a picnic dinner from our leftovers if that's okay."

"Oh. Sure…take whatever you want," she replied, her tone was a bit cold. I got the feeling something was bothering her, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Thanks."

As I turned to leave her room, she asked, "Will you be home tonight?"

"Since its Friday, I doubt I will." _Who was I fooling? I knew I wouldn't, _I thought to myself. "It's the weekend and I haven't seen Edward since Tuesday night. I'll probably be at his place all weekend," I added.

I was curious why she had asked. I'd been spending most of my weekends at Edward's apartment for a few months now. At first it had been just a night here and there, but since I had taken my job in Port Angeles it just seemed to make sense to spend the weekend with him there instead of him driving to Forks to get me and then back to his place. This was the first time she'd said anything about it and I didn't know why. Up until now she had acted as if it were not a big deal.

"It's getting to be a habit of yours. Spending all weekend at Edward's place."

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked a bit surprised by her statement.

"I just worry that you're moving a bit fast with him. You're too young to be tied down to one man, Isabella," she retorted.

"Mom, I'm hardly a child. I'll be twenty-four in three weeks. And as far as moving too fast…well…I don't know what to say except Edward and I love each other. I don't see anything wrong with us spending time alone in his apartment."

"I guess I forget that you are a young woman now. Have a good time." She smiled and went back to the show she'd been watching. But there was something about the way she smiled and the curt tone in her voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I couldn't put my finger on why, but I had a feeling this wasn't the last time I'd hear about spending the weekend with Edward. I wished I could believe she was just being overprotective but there was something in the tone of her voice, and the fact that her mood had done a complete flip flop set me on edge.

Determined to not let her ruin my time with Edward, I let it go and left to take a quick shower. Once I was finished, I threw on a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top and grabbed a long sleeved flannel shirt of my dad's I still had incase it got chilly by the lake. After tying the flannel shirt around my waist, I packed a bag, grabbed a dress in case we went out, and my work clothes for Monday to take with me to Edward's for the weekend.

With my bag, purse, and clothes in hand, I headed back down to the kitchen to pack Edward and me a dinner. Setting my purse and bag by the front door, I hung the other things on the coat tree next to it and went into the kitchen. I packed some leftover fried chicken, pasta salad, fresh strawberries, cheese sticks and then threw in a couple bottles of water. I then added some plastic utensils, plates and paper napkins. After getting it all situated, I closed the basket and tucked the blanket through the handles of it and took it into the living room to wait for Edward to arrive.

***X*X*X*X***

"I missed you," Edward said softly while pulling me down on the blanket next to him.

He buried his nose in my hair and I could hear him inhaling deeply. He'd told me he loved the smell of my coconut scented shampoo and body wash.

"Mmm, I missed you too," I whispered as I rolled to my side and snuggled up against him.

"Thank you for the picnic dinner. It was perfect." He placed a kiss on the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me tighter.

"Well when you'd said you'd had a crazy week I figured the last thing you needed was to be sitting in a crowded restaurant and I thought a picnic would be better than take out. And besides it's so quiet here and it's—"

"Our spot," he said, finishing the sentence for me as he rolled me onto my back.

I gasped softly as his lips skimmed down the slope of my throat until he reached the spot where it met my shoulder. He switched between gentle sucking and wet open mouthed kisses that sent shivers down my spine.

I could feel my heart thumping wildly in my chest and my hands tugging on his hair as his lips traveled even lower until they were kissing the top of the valley where my breasts came together. Soon his mouth was traveling back up and along the sensitive skin of my neck.

"I love you," he whispered, stopping as he reached the corner of my lips.

"I love you too," I breathed, hardly able to speak due to the sensations he was stirring within me.

We remained like that for a while, kissing and making out like a couple of high school kids. When his hand crept up under the hem of my shirt I thought perhaps he wanted to make love right here by the lake.

I'd never made love outside or in any public place for that matter, but with Edward it somehow seemed incredibly perfect and I knew if he wanted to I wouldn't stop him.

However just as his hand reached the underside of my breast, he pulled away while whispering, "We should go."

"Mmm, do we have to?" I mumbled. I opened my eyes to see the bright sun that had been shinning before had faded into the soft glow of the twilight lit sky.

"Unless you want me to ravish you in front of that guy fishing around the corner of the lake, we do."

"What?" I shrieked and sprang up into a sitting position causing Edward to fall over on his back chuckling at me.

I looked across the water sure enough there was a man casting his line into the lake about a hundred feet or so from us.

We stood to gather our stuff and with the heat from the sun and Edward's kisses gone, I pulled my father's shirt on, which reminded me of the conversation I'd had with my mother earlier.

I must have sucked at hiding my distress over the conversation because as if sensing a shift in my mood, the second he had the truck on the main road Edward said, "Penny for your thoughts," as he wrapped his hand around mine and linked our fingers together.

"I had I guess you could say an argument—disagreement…I don't know…words with my mother today," I stated along with letting out a frustrated sigh.

I knew he wasn't going to be happy with what I was about to tell him but we'd promised not to keep any secrets from each other and to talk about everything since we'd finally cleared the air over our fears about the past.

"Was it your grandmother's things? Did one of you want to get rid of or keep something the other didn't?"

"No. We argued over you. Or more specifically my spending my weekends with you. To put it simply she doesn't like it."

"Well it doesn't matter if she doesn't like it. You're a grown woman, Bella," he huffed in his frustration. I could feel his hand twitch a bit and was sure he was dying to run it through his hair like he was prone to do when something was bothering him.

"That's exactly what I told her."

"Yeah? What did she say to that?"

I blew out a loud sigh and then told him what she'd said. He didn't take it too well. The muscles in his jaw were twitching along with his hand now.

"Why now?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We've been spending our weekends together for a while now. So why is she just now saying something if it bothers her so much? I don't get it."

"I don't either," I told him. "And I get the feeling it's not going to be the last time I hear about it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just a feeling I got. She let it go too easily. It's kinda scary when I think about it. It's almost as if she's up to something."

He looked over at me briefly before putting his eyes back on the road. It was dark now and you never knew when a deer might dart across the highway with no warning.

"Do you think she would try to come between us again?" he asked nervously. I could see his hand tighten on the steering wheel and I knew that old fear of his was resurfacing.

"I don't know, I just have a weird feeling I can't shake." I pulled his hand across my lap and scooted as close to him as my seatbelt would let me. Wrapping my other hand around both of ours I told him, "It doesn't matter though. The only person who can take me away from you is you, Edward."

"What if she wants to move away again?" he asked quietly as if he were afraid of my answer.

"Doesn't matter. I _won't_ be going with her this time."

"Promise me."

"I promise. I'm not going anywhere, Edward, unless you send me away."

"That's not going to happen," he said, squeezing my hand more tightly.

We remained quiet for the rest of the trip to his house. It wasn't a tense or uncomfortable quiet, although when I'd glance up at him from time to time I could tell he was deep in thought, no doubt trying to figure out what was going on with my mother.

***X*X*X*X***

We didn't discuss my mother the rest of the weekend, but by the time Sunday night came and I was packing my bag to go home after work on Monday, I could sense Edward getting a bit tense and clingy. He had to be constantly touching me in some way, even it if was just our legs touching side by side on the couch as we watched a baseball game, and it felt as though he couldn't completely relax.

I had already told him on Friday night that I wasn't going anywhere and other than time showing him I meant what I'd said the only other way I could think of to reassure him was to show him.

I waited for him to go take his shower and then began to search high and low through his apartment for some candles. When I was unsuccessful my brain began to churn, trying to come up with some other way to soften the lighting in his bedroom. For lack of any other choice, I took a dark blue pillow case and draped it over the lampshade of the small lamp on his nightstand. It actually worked perfectly, allowing just enough light so he'd be able to see me and where he was walking when he came out.

Next I found the hair band I had in my purse and pulled my hair up into a messy bun on my head and then dug out the black lace bra and thong panty set I had in my bag. I hadn't been sure what we'd do this weekend and had brought it to wear under my black silk dress in case we went out.

I quickly put them on and had just grabbed the small bottle of baby oil I had for after shaving my legs when I heard the water to the shower shut off.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to come out of the bathroom. As soon as I saw him I stood and went to him, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bed.

Taking notice of what I was wearing and the lamp, he ran a finger along the lace edge of my bra and asked, "What's going on here?"

"What's going on is I am going to help you relax and show you how much I love you."

"But I know you—"

"Shhh," I told him as I placed my finger over his lips to silence him. I then pushed on his chest to get him to sit on the bed.

I crawled up on the bed behind him and grabbed the baby oil off the nightstand. After applying a small amount to the palm of my hand, I put the bottle back and then rubbed my hands together so they were coated with a light sheen of the oil.

Perched on my knees behind him, I began to move my hands over his shoulders and massage the stress out of his tense muscles.

"You've been tense all evening," I told him softly next to his ear.

"Have I?" he asked and then turned his head and gave me a soft kiss.

I kissed along his neck and behind his ear before whispering, "You have. And I know why too." He didn't respond other than to let out a soft moan as I pressed my fingers into his shoulders a little harder. "You're worried, baby, and I want to show you how much I love you. My words apparently aren't enough so I'm going to love you and show you I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I don't mean to doubt you."

"It's okay, baby, I know you don't. And I understand why you do. So just relax and let me love you."

I ran my hands down the expanse of his back. Edward's back muscles were firm, well toned and defined, but not in an over done way. I switched between using just the pads of my fingers and thumbs to using the heel of my hand to dig into his flesh and work it to help him relax.

"Jesus, Bella, that feels good," he moaned as I dug in a little harder with my whole hand, gripping his muscles and kneading them.

The longer I kept going, the more he began to loosen up and relax. I could feel the tension leaving his body as I continued working up and down his back and across his shoulders. After a few times back and forth across them both, his head slumped forward and his shoulders relaxed, letting me see he was finally giving in and letting go. It was then that I moved back and told him to lie down.

He turned and scooted back on the bed and lay down on his back. I climbed over him and grabbed the oil to get a little more on hands. I then straddled him and began to work across his chest muscles much as I had his back. They were just as firm as his back muscles were and felt incredible under my hands.

When I felt that while his upper body muscles had begun to relax, I scooted back further so I could work his abdominal muscles.

We both groaned as my new position lined us up in the most intimate way. The movements of me rubbing up and down his chest and abdominal muscles were causing his mind and those muscles to relax, but other parts of him were becoming very tense and rigid. The motions of the massage weren't only affecting Edward, and with him in nothing more than a towel and me in a pair of lace thong panties, it was easy for each of us to feel what the grinding together of our most intimate parts was doing to us both.

Only a few minutes later his hands grabbed my wrists and pulled me flat against his chest. I slid easily against his bare skin since he was coated in baby oil. Edward bent his knees and brought his legs up behind me to help hold me in place, as his hands grasped my head and his lips hungrily engulfed mine in a searing passionate kiss.

With one hand still tangled in my hair while he continued to kiss me, his other moved down my back and quickly unclasped my bra.

Using both hands he slipped the straps down my arms and said in a voice that was barely more than panted breaths, "This black lace looks exquisite on you, but it's got to go."

I pulled my arms the rest of the way out of the straps, allowing him to tug it from between us and let it drop to the floor next to the bed.

I gasped softly from the sensation of my bare breasts rubbing against his slippery skin.

"Mmm, you like that, baby," he murmured gently as he used his finger and thumb to lightly pinch, roll, and caress my hard nipples.

"God yes, I love it, but…but this…is supposed to be…about you," I said through my heavy breathing. The combination of his hands on my breasts, his lips on my neck, and the grinding movements we were still making, had my head spinning with desire for him.

"No, baby," he whispered in a husky tone while his hands slid down to my hips. "It's about us." I heard a fast ripping sound and then felt the lace of my thong panties being pulled out from under me. "Love me, Bella. Love _with _me. Now," he panted. "I need to feel you," was the last thing he said before I felt him tugging on the towel around his waist.

I rose up allowing him to open the towel and remove the last barrier between our bodies.

He lowered his legs and I sat up allowing our most intimate parts to line up perfectly. I slid over him and took him in me completely. As I started to move he brought his legs back up and pulled me back down against his chest and wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him so closely that I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. I slipped my arms under him and grasped his shoulders anchoring myself to him. I never wanted to let him go.

"I love you so fucking much, Bella. I don't ever want to lose you again," he told me as we slowly moved together showing each other just how much we meant to one another, but I could still hear a faint hint of fear in his voice.

"You won't, I promise. I'm yours for as long as you want me."

"Always, Bella. I will _always_ want you. Tell me you want that too."

"I do. Always, Edward. I will always want you and I will _always_ love you."

No more words were needed as we showed each other how much we loved one another through each touch, each caress, and each kiss we gave to one another. I could feel the connection—the bond between us solidifying and becoming so much stronger than it had been ever before and I was sure he felt it too.

I knew I could never let him go now. Didn't think I could even if he wanted me to. He was a part of me and I'd never survive without him. I'd been a fool to think I could before.

Our movements remained slow and tender while we held each other closely until just before we reached our climax. As we felt it building, our movements became more needful, more frantic. I sat up, taking him in me even deeper as we rode out the explosive waves of our love making and reached the pinnacle together.

**~*Edward*~**

The next morning when Bella and I woke up we couldn't help but laugh at the fact we were both covered in baby oil. Our hair looked like we hadn't washed it in days and the bed was a mess too. You could see dark spots where the oil had soaked into the sheets and the comforter.

Didn't matter to me though, it had been an amazing wonderful night for us, one I would never forget. So if the bedding was ruined—well it was well worth it.

We stripped the bed together while Bella continued to giggle. While I put clean sheets on it, she put the comforter in the washing machine. Her giggles were infectious and I chuckled a few times myself. I loved seeing her so happy and carefree.

After showering together and making love again while doing so, we both dressed for work and had a quick breakfast before I took Bella to work.

Unfortunately my day seemed to go on forever with me finding it hard to concentrate on anything other than Bella. She was in my thoughts frequently on a normal day, but today I just couldn't get her out of my mind. Everything from her conversation with her mom, to our talk about it, to her hovering over me and making love with me last night plagued my thoughts.

When the bell finally rang at three to signal the end of the school day, I was grateful I never gave private lessons on Mondays; with them being the first day of the week they were usually hectic. I left right away, bringing any papers I needed to grade home with me instead of doing them at school.

Once home I used the time I had left before picking Bella up to dry my comforter and toy with an idea I'd had bouncing around in my head. For the past couple of weeks I'd been mulling over the idea of asking Bella to move in with me. But now I worried she would think I was doing it out of fear of her leaving me again. And that pissed me off. Because last week at this time if I'd asked her she would've known I was doing it because I loved her and wanted her with me all the time. Renee had already interfered whether she realized it or not and I didn't like it at all.

I finally made up my mind to wait a couple of weeks. I could admit that last night before Bella and I had made love, there still had been a slight amount of fear in my head that she'd let Renee come between us again.

However after what had transpired between us last night—what we'd shared—and the connection I felt between us, I was certain now that Bella wouldn't let that happen. I would just have to remain patient for the next few weeks and then ask her. Maybe I'd even do it for her birthday. It was coming up and I could give her a key as part of her gift and ask her to come live with me.

Bella ended up working late so I was able to get all my papers graded and the bed completely put back together by the time I had to pick her up. Images of the night before had flashed through my mind as I had finished making the bed. They'd made me even more determined to make sure no one came between the two of us again.

About an hour and a half later, I had picked Bella up from work and we were pulling into her driveway. I carried her bag and the picnic basket in for her and after kissing her goodbye, I was just about to leave when Renee came down the stairs.

"I thought I heard a car in the driveway," she said. The door was still open with Bella and me standing in the doorway. She seemed to be in a good mood so I just smiled.

"Let me run this stuff up to my room, change real quick and I'll help ya with dinner, Mom," Bella said as her mom moved past us and into the kitchen.

Poking her head back around the kitchen doorway Renee replied, "Oh. Well…it was getting late. I didn't think you were coming home so I ordered pizza. Edward, why don't you stay?"

"I really don't want to intrude," I replied while trying to remain polite to Renee. Bella may not have caught the change of tone in her mother's voice when she'd mentioned she didn't think Bella was going to be home, but I certainly had.

I knew Bella was pre-occupied and stressing over an article that wasn't up to snuff for the end of the week paper. Her boss had put it on her to make the proper edit suggestions and make sure the journalist fixed it. It was the first time he'd given her so much authority and it had her on pins and needles. She was worried about how Vicki, the journalist, would take to being given orders from Bella since Vicki had been with the paper much longer than Bella. Years longer to be exact.

"You won't be intruding. Would he, Mom?" Bella added.

"Of course not, honey."

From where Bella was standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor she could see me but not her mother. And while the tone in Renee's voice had been completely pleasant this time, the look on her face was anything but. She had rolled her eyes at her daughter as if to say she really hadn't wanted me to stay, that she had only offered because it was the polite thing to do. Although I doubted it was about being polite. It was just another instance of Renee playing games with her daughter's life and trying to maintain the facade she had going.

"Then you'll stay?" Bella asked me while giving my hand a squeeze, as if to say please, letting me know she really wanted me to.

"Sure. I would have probably just ordered a pizza when I got home anyways," I told her. If staying was what my girl wanted then I'd do it regardless of what Renee wanted.

"Good," Bella said before giving me a quick peck on the lips and heading up the stairs to her room.

Bella had taken her bag from me but I was still holding the picnic basket in my hand. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I walked into the kitchen and asked Renee where she'd like me to put it.

"Oh just set it on the counter for now. I'll take care of it later."

I nodded and placed the basket where she'd told me to. I then turned to go wait for Bella in the living room, but the sound of Renee's voice stopped me.

"So, did you and Bella have a good weekend?" She was probably trying to sound sincerely interested but I'd heard the hint of sarcasm in her voice; she was obviously only asking to dig for information on where things stood between Bella and me.

"We did," I replied not really wanting to offer up any more information than I had too. As far as I was concerned it really wasn't any of her business what Bella and I did when we were together.

"She's usually home much sooner. She really should learn to let me know if she is going to be late. I could have cooked if I had known."

"Renee, Bella is a grown woman. She had to work late. It happens. You could have cooked and I'm sure Bella would have been perfectly content to warm it up for herself once she'd gotten here." I paused as I contemplated whether to say more. I realized if I never called her bluff and let her know I was on to her, I might never get any answers. So I asked her, "Are you sure that's what really has you so flustered? If there is something you want to say to me, just say it."

"She had to work late? Is that what you're calling a roll between the sheets these days?" came her snotty reply.

"Let's cut to the chase here," I told her while pulling on my hair in frustration. This woman obviously cared about no one but herself. It amazed me how she had raised such a wonderful daughter. Of course from what I knew and remembered about Bella's father, it was clear that she got her loving and caring personality from him because she was definitely nothing like her mother. "I'm aware of the conversation you had with Bella on Friday. So why don't you just admit that what you really have a problem with is me."

"I guess it shouldn't surprise me that she told you."

"Bella and I have no secrets from each other. So why would that surprise you?"

"Look, Edward, it's not you personally I have a problem with. It's your relationship. I just don't see it lasting and I don't want my daughter hurt."

"Just why is it that you don't see it lasting? I love your daughter. I have no intentions of losing her again." I couldn't believe the gall this woman had to tell me that my relationship with Bella wouldn't last. Who the hell did she think she was? "You obviously have no clue about how Bella and I feel about each other," I added getting more pissed off the more she prodded into my and Bella's private lives.

I kept chanting in my head, _Keep your cool, Cullen. She wants to get a rise out of you. _

"I know you think you love her and she you. But come on, we both know what's really going on here."

"By all means enlighten me since you seem to think you know so much about how I feel about your daughter."

"You are looking for someone to warm your bed, scratch that itch every young man your age gets. And Bella—Well Isabella is simply clinging to any part of the happy childhood she had here in her effort to try and start over again. Eventually you will both grow tired of one another and move on. You are just each other's current distraction. I am only trying to make her see that now so that it's easier for you both."

Cool headed Cullen had officially left the building. I'd had enough of her insane reflections and accusations.

"Let me tell you something, Renee," I said through my gritted. I had my teeth clamped together so hard it hurt. I stayed like that for a few moments in an effort to keep my mouth shut and control the anger that was coursing through me. But when Renee shot me a condescending look it no longer worked. "You have no clue whatsoever about how Bella and I feel about each other. And I can promise you that it is so much more than the shallow feelings you believe it to be. I love your daughter as she does me and because of that there are two things I am absolutely sure of."

"Well as you said before, please enlighten me," she spat.

"One, you are going to lose your daughter if you keep up this plot to tear us apart. Our love cannot be broken this time. Two, I will not let you come between us again. I will do everything within my power to make sure I never lose your daughter again. She means entirely too much to me. I will fight for her this time, Renee, and _you_ will be the one who loses."

Renee opened her mouth to respond, but just as she did, we heard Bella coming down the stairs and at nearly the same time there was a knock on the front door indicating the pizza had arrived.

"I got it," Bella called as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"The money is on the table by the door," Renee called back to her. Then casting a glare in my direction she turned and began pulling plates out of the cabinet.

"Sorry it took me so long before," Bella apologized as she entered the kitchen. I got a call from my boss on some last minute revisions he wanted to add to the article I have to work on. She turned her head and kissed me quickly as she set the pizza on the table.

"No worries, dear. Edward and I were chatting about the nice weather we've had recently. It's really so rare we get a dry spell like this, much less the sun to go with it."

_Nice weather? What the hell? What a fucking piece of work she is_, I thought. If she thought I was going to keep our conversation from Bella she was so wrong. Now might not be the time or place, but I would be sharing it with Bella when the time was right. Especially if she continued to cause Bella grief over our relationship.

***X*X*X*X***

Over the next few weeks things seemed to calm down. The weekend after my argument with Renee I had told Bella about the entire conversation I'd had with her mother. It upset her and caused her to apologize to me profusely for her mother's actions. However I assured her that she was not responsible for Renee and was in no way to blame for the things her mother had said to me.

During that time Bella and I were both relieved that Renee had appeared to let the topic of our relationship go, leading Bella to think that perhaps her mom had just hit a bad spot over the fact that they had been packing up all her grandmother's things and had been feeling clingy towards Bella since Renee had now lost her mother too. But even if that were true, I still worried that she'd feel even more alone as Bella and I continued to grow closer and spend even more time together. I was afraid that as our feelings grew deeper for each other, that Renee's feelings would resurface causing her to try and force Bella's hand again.

However I was determined not to let that happen. I knew what Renee was capable of this time and I vowed I wouldn't let Bella go again. It was too soon to talk marriage with Bella, but I knew I wanted forever with her. There would be no stopping me this time unless Bella herself told me it was not what she wanted. That she didn't want _me._

Although I was cautiously hopeful that maybe my talk with Renee had gotten through to her once she'd had some time to think about it, but I didn't let my guard down completely. Call it intuition—gut instincts or whatever, but I just couldn't completely shake the feeling that Renee wasn't done messing with us.

It was Monday, September seventeenth, and last Thursday had been Bella's birthday. Despite Bella's protests and her desire to spend the evening alone with me, we spent the evening with her mother since Renee had insisted on making Bella a special dinner and had baked her a cake. It had turned out to be a pleasant evening, at least as pleasant as it could be given our company, but it still ticked me off that Renee had insisted on having things her way.

We were both extremely happy when Friday evening came and we had our alone time to look forward to. Remembering from when we were younger that Bella didn't like to make a big deal about her birthday, we had spent the weekend like any other weekend she stayed with me except I had set up a candle lit dinner for us. She had loved it even though she had felt silly eating her favorite food, mushroom ravioli, by candle light.

I had two gifts for her but had saved them. I definitely didn't want Renee anywhere in the vicinity when I gave her either one of them. One I planned to give to her today and the other tonight after dinner. Bella and I had both taken the day off and were going to Seattle to go to Emmett's baseball game. It was a day game and Alice, Jasper and Rose were going too, then afterwards we were all going out to dinner at The Space Needle.

I had just come out of the bathroom and was rubbing a towel through my hair when I heard Bella on the phone.

"What do you mean a sold sign, Alice? The house wasn't even for sale. How is that possible?"

She was quiet for a second like she was listening to whatever my sister was saying to her and then she said, "I hate to ask this but are you sure it was my grandmother's house? Could it have been in the neighbor's yard? To a passerby it could look like one big yard since the houses are so close together."

I watched as Bella's eyebrows scrunched together and she began chewing on her thumbnail. I walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. Placing my hands on her hips, I pulled her to stand between my legs and mouthed to her "what's wrong".

She quit chewing on her nail and held up her pointer finger as a signal for me to wait a minute.

"Okay, thanks, Alice. I'm going to fill Edward in and then we're going to head back to Forks. I need to find out what the hell is going on. Yeah. I'll call you as soon as I can."

As soon as she clicked the button on her cellphone to end the call I asked, "What's going on? Why are we going back to Forks?"

"Alice and Jasper were on their way here to ride with us to Seattle. When they drove past my gran's house they saw a sold sign in the front yard and a moving van in the driveway."

"What!" I exclaimed. My blood was boiling. I'd had my doubts that Renee had truly given up on her ploy to come in between Bella and me, but this was fucking ridiculous and totally uncalled for.

"Yeah, she said it looked like my mother has sold Gran's house."

_What the fuck had Renee done now, _was all I could think. It was clear from the heartbroken look on Bella's face that she was hurting. I wrapped her in my arms and held her tightly. She slumped against me and I could tell this was going to be extremely difficult for her. I just couldn't begin to comprehend what the hell Renee was thinking.

As I held Bella and tried to comfort her, I assured her we'd get to the bottom of this. If what Alice was saying was true, not only had Renee sold Bella's grandmother's house without even mentioning it to Bella, but she'd also denied Bella the opportunity to buy it herself. I was livid and knew there'd be no holding me back in saying anything to _that_ woman. She'd gone too far this time and I refused to let her hurt Bella anymore.

**Dun dun dun! What has Renee done now? And why? Let me know your thoughts. I can't wait to hear them.**

**I have a special request for all of you, my wonderful readers. One of my readers who has been with me through every one of my stories has started posting her very first story this week. Show **_**Teamswiterlandmom**_** some love and check out her sexy little Christmas fic called, **_**Twelve Days of Lingerie. **_**I promise you won't be disappointed. You can find the link for her under my favorite authors list on my profile page and the link to her story on my favorite stories list.**

**Also, for those of you reading my collaboration with **_**My-Bella, Beneath The Surface, **_**don't forget to stop by our live Q&A session on Twitter tonight at 8pm central time. You can find us on Twitter at, (at)teammasen. We'll be on for about an hour and you can ask the characters questions or chat with My-Bella and me. We might even indulge you with answers about any of our other stories.  
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**Thanks for reading!**

**EA**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy Thursday, everyone. I'm hoping all of you are on the nice, not the naughty, list this year even though I am betting you would all put Renee on the naughty list. Does she even deserve a lump of coal?**

**So with all of the strong words everyone had for Renee after the last chapter, I am offering a warning for this chapter. **

**You know some authors give tissue or angst warnings. Well I am giving a HATE warning. Or as Hope4More so eloquently put it…**_**BITCH ON A BROOM**_** warning. **

**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer:**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted**_**. Unauthorized **__**use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_** I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. And of course, just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is in any way intended. **

**~*Edward*~**

There was a huge knot forming in the pit of my stomach. It was sickening to think that Renee would go and sell Bella's grandmother's house without warning or even a word. And as much as I wanted to believe that she wouldn't and that it must be some sort of mistake, I knew that Alice was rarely ever wrong. It just wasn't something that happened. My little sister was such a stickler for details that she just didn't miss things like the placement of a 'sold' sign. It'd be like her missing a 'sale' sign while walking through the mall. If Alice was certain it was in Bella's yard then that was exactly where it was.

What I just couldn't fathom was what Renee could possibly hope to accomplish by selling the house. She must have made some sort of decision about her own future and had made plans to carry it out. But did she really think that Bella would just up and follow her again just because she sold the house? Was she stupid enough or so blind by her own desires that she didn't think Bella could find somewhere else to stay until she could find her own place? Or that Bella wouldn't have any other option but to do as she wished? The only conclusion that I could come to was Renee was incredibly wrong, possibly even delusional, if that was what she thought.

I watched the love of my life as she scurried around my bedroom to get dressed. I could see the anguish on her face and it pissed me off. Renee was lucky that it was an hour drive between Port Angeles and Forks, because I was going to need that time to cool down so I wouldn't wring her neck the second I laid eyes on her.

This was supposed to have been an amazing day. One I had hoped Bella and I would never forget. And now as if Renee somehow had known what I had planned, she'd gone and stomped all over it with this stunt she was pulling.

I had pulled a few strings to get Bella's gift rush ordered since I'd had it personalized and had called in a huge favor from my brother to make this a day Bella would remember forever. She still probably would but not for the reasons I had hoped. However I was still going to try and make at least part of it a happy memory for her.

"I have to go. I have to see what the hell my mother has done," Bella turned and said to me once she was dressed. She had put on the Mariner's t-shirt and jeans she was going to have worn to the game and it was another reminder of what Renee was ruining today.

"Hey," I said grabbing her hand and pulling her to me. Holding on to her hips I pulled her closer and then slid my arms around her. "You're not going alone."

"But—" she started to protest.

"But nothing," I told her. "After everything your mom has done and said there is no way in hell I'm letting you go face this alone."

"I don't want her to ruin your day too. I know how much you were looking forward to seeing Emmett play. Are you sure you want to pass that up?" she asked. Her voice was a mixture of disappointment and relief. I could see how torn she was with wanting me to be with her, but not wanting me to sacrifice my day to deal with her mother. "I don't want to ruin your afternoon and evening just because my mother has pulled some hair brained shenanigan."

"I'm as sure as I know I love you. There will be another opportunity to see Emmett play. Right now I need to be with you."

"I love you so much. Do you know that?" She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me against her chest as she stood between my legs.

"I do. And I love you too. So much, Bella," I whispered softly to her as I looked up and cupped her face, bringing her lips to mine so I could kiss her. It was a soft lingering kiss that reaffirmed the words of love we had just spoken to each other.

As our lips moved together the words I had just said to her were on replay in my head and I knew I had to do what I had set out to do today even if I didn't get to do it in the way I had planned. If I waited it would be tarnished by Renee's actions and I just couldn't let that happen. I had to do this now or I would have to wait for a while and waiting just wasn't an option.

Ending the kiss, I patted the bed next to me. "Sit here for a sec, there's something I need to do before we go."

I hadn't dressed yet and when I stood and adjusted the towel that was still around my waist, Bella giggled and said, "I hope you plan to get dressed too."

"Well that too. But first there is something much more important."

My stomach churned with flip-flops as I walked over to where my Mariner's jacket was hanging on the back of my bedroom door. I was nervous and excited and terrified all at the same time. I knew Bella loved me and I loved her and that I didn't have to do this today. But if I waited Bella might think I was doing it for all the wrong reasons and I couldn't let that happen. I had do to this now so that she knew I had planned to do it long before any knowledge of her mother's stunt had become known.

I could feel my hand shaking slightly as I reached into the inside chest pocket of the jacket. In my nerves and excitement over what I was about to do, my hand got stuck in the jacket and I ended up pulling it and my leather jacket that was hanging with it down.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked obliviously. She had no clue that her life was possibly about to change in a huge way.

My heart was thumping wildly in my chest; it reminded me of the first time I'd ever played the piano in a public setting.

All sorts of thoughts bombarded me at once…

_What if she says no? What if she thinks it's too soon? Too soon wasn't no, it just meant not right now. Maybe I could get her to wear it on her right hand if she thought it was too soon. It could be like a promise ring of sorts until she was ready for it to be more. _

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I hung the jackets back up. _Get a fucking grip, Cullen. You were going to ask her in a stadium full of nearly fifty thousand people. It's just you and her. You can do this. _

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"You still haven't told me what you are doing." She started to get up and come over to me.

"Stop," I ordered much louder and harsher than I wanted to. "You have to stay there. Please sit back down," I told her in a much lower tone. I was going to freak her out if I didn't get on with this. I could already see the wheels turning in her head.

"Edward, what's going on?"

"I just want to give you your birthday presents. I had planned to do it later but since our plans have changed I think now is a good time to do it."

"My what?" she asked before letting out a long sigh. "Please tell me you didn't get me a present."

I couldn't stop a cocky grin from spreading across my face as I walked back over to her.

"Edward," she said dragging the word out in a slightly whiney voice. "What's behind your back? And what's with the grin?"

I sat down next to her on the bed. I let the box with the key to my apartment drop to the bed behind me and kept the other one in my hand behind my back. With my free hand I brushed her hair back from her face and then grasped her left hand with it.

As I rubbed my thumb back and forth across the silky smooth skin of her hand, I took a deep breath and looking her straight in the eye I began. "This isn't how I wanted to do this."

"Do what?"

"Shhh," I said as I leaned forward, giving her a quick kiss. "I had this all planned out. But that's okay because when or where doesn't really matter. All that really matters is your answer."

"My answer? Edward, what are you talking about? You haven't asked me anything," she stated as her eyes searched mine for the answers to her own questions.

"I love you so much, Bella. Having you back in my life has been so incredible I don't even know how to begin to describe it. I want you with me all the time. When you are gone for even just a few minutes, I miss you. So much sometimes it hurts physically. You make me feel whole. You complete me."

She reached up with both her hands and grasped my face gently. "Oh, Edward, I love you too. Being with you again has been so amazingly perfect that I sometimes think I'm dreaming. That I couldn't have possibly been given a second chance with you."

"You're not dreaming. I promise it's all very real," I whispered to her. I could see all the emotion I was feeling in my heart reflected back to me in her eyes. It let me know that she loved me just as much as I loved her and gave me the extra bit of confidence I needed to know that I was going to get the answer I wanted. That this was right.

"Bella, I know you didn't want anything for your birthday, but I wanted to show you just how much I love you and how I want to be with you always." In an effort to keep from losing my towel, I slowly slid off the bed and knelt in front of her. "I want you with me forever."

Bringing the ring box around in front of me I released her hand so I could open it. Her eyes went wide and her trembling hand was clasped over her mouth as tears began to sprinkle from her eyes. I searched the depths of her liquid mocha eyes to make sure I was reading her emotions correctly. When all I saw was love and happiness shining in them, I held up the box and said, "Marry me, Bella."

As her head began to rapidly shake up and down, I felt a huge smile spread across my face. "Yes?" I asked. "Are you saying yes?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes," she cried as she threw her arms around me and kissed me hard.

The force of Bella lunging at me had us both lying on the floor laughing in between our kisses.

"Mmm, if we don't stop now, we aren't going to be leaving for a while," I murmured as our kisses became heated and we began to get carried away.

She nodded and then let out a slow dejected sigh. I could see the crinkle forming between her eyes and knew she was stressing over having to face her mother. "I don't want to go. I wanna stay her with you and never leave," she mumbled against my chest.

I sat up and pulled her onto my lap which probably wasn't the best idea in the world since I was still in only a towel and still a bit worked up after our impromptu make out session on the floor. But I wanted her close to me so I could hold her and comfort her.

"It just so happens I might have just the thing to help you with that," I told her as I reached over and picked up the ring box off the floor where it had slipped out of my hand when Bella and I had gotten carried away. "But first," I told her as I removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. "We'll face it together. You don't have to deal with whatever it is Renee has done alone. I will be there with you."

I kissed her again and then watched as he held her hand up and smiled brightly as she looked at her ring.

"It's beautiful," she said as she moved her hand back and forth slightly causing the one carat princess cut diamond to sparkle in the light.

"Here look at this," I said as I slipped the ring back off her finger.

"Change your mind, Cullen?" She had a teasing smirk on her face.

"No. _Never_. I just wanted to show you this," I held the ring up to her so she could see the engraved message I had placed on the inside of the platinum band.

"Forever under the mistletoe," she said softly, reading the inscription. "Oh, Edward, it's perfect." She hugged me tightly while nuzzling her face against my neck.

We sat there for a few minutes just holding each other and feeling the love we felt for one another flow between us. It was an incredible feeling and I wanted to experience it for the rest of my life.

Remembering the other part of my gift, I encouraged Bella to get up even though I wanted nothing more than to stay here in our cocoon of happiness and never leave.

"Come on. I think I said something about helping you stay here forever." I stood and held my hand out to her after she'd scooted off my lap. I tugged her until she was sitting next to me on the bed again and held out the other small gift box I'd been hiding in my jacket. "Here, this is the other part of your birthday present."

"Edward, what's this?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at me with an expression that told me she was trying to look miffed about the second gift. She was failing though as the glint in her eyes and the twitching of the corner of her lips gave away the fact she was secretly excited to see what might be in the box.

"A key?" she asked after unwrapping the gift.

"Not just any key. This is a key to my apartment. You've been spending more and more time here with me and I love having you here. So much that I want you here with me all the time. And now that you've agreed to become my wife, it seems even more fitting that you move in with me."

"You want me to live here with you?"

"Yes."

"All the time?"

I couldn't help laughing at her a little. I'd just asked her to marry me and yet she was still doubtful that I'd want her to live with me. I stopped laughing when she smacked me on the arm in mock frustration.

"Always and forever, baby. We're getting married. You know married people do usually tend to live together." My sarcastic remark garnered me another smack on the arm, but she was giving me a toothy grin so I knew it was all in fun. Trying to put on a straight face, I said, "I know this place is kinda small and you would probably want to get someplace bigger so we'd each have our own working spaces for those times when it required us to work at home."

"The kitchen table would work just as well as a suitable workspace I suppose. You still have time left on your lease, don't you_?"_ she inquired.

"It would, and I do, but I have a better idea."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"My lease is up in four months. So how about we stay here until then. In the mean time we begin the search for someplace bigger. Someplace perfect for _us_ where we can begin our married life together. What'd ya say?"

"I say, you're a genius, Mr. Cullen."

She slinked her arms around my neck and kissed me soundly.

"Glad I can be of service, soon-to-be Mrs. Cullen."

While I got dressed, Bella dug her keychain out of her purse and placed her new one on the ring with the rest. Once we were both ready to go, she started to reach down and grab her bag, but then stood up with a beaming smile on her face and said, "I guess I get to leave this here now, huh?"

"Yes you do," I told her as I pulled her to me for a hug and quick kiss.

***X*X*X*X***

Bella hadn't said much on the drive to Forks. I figured she was trying to mentally prepare herself for facing her mother. I could tell by the look of concentration on her face that she was trying to figure out what her mother was up to and gather her thoughts on what she was going to say to her. I was also sure she was dreading it as well. Despite all that Renee had done, she was still Bella's mother and she loved her.

She glanced over at me and her eyes were filled with sadness. I had seen it before we'd left _our_ apartment as well. I loved that she was going to be living with me all the time now.

As I raised her hand to my lips, I kissed it just above where my ring was now gracing her third finger. "I love you."

"I love you too." She gave me a smile but it didn't reach her eyes and it told me exactly how hard this was on her. I really wanted to fucking tear Renee to pieces for what she was doing to Bella.

"You okay, baby?"

"No, but I will be. I just have to figure out what my mother has done and then figure out how to move past it."

"Just remember you're not alone. I'm here for you, baby," I said and kissed her hand again. Instead of resting it back on the seat between us I kept it close to me on my leg and played with her engagement ring. It thrilled me beyond words that she had said yes and she'd done it without any hesitation at all. That alone had told me she had no doubts about us or the reason behind my proposal.

She turned her gaze back to the window, letting me know she wanted this time to gather her thoughts. So I simply held her hand the rest of the way, giving it a squeeze of reassurance now and then to remind her I was there for her.

Unfortunately as soon as the house came into our view, we could see that Alice had been correct on the placement of the "sold" sign. It was definitely Bella's grandmother's house that it belonged to.

Before I'd even had a chance to turn off my truck, Bella was jumping out as soon as it had come to a stop in the driveway. There was a big moving truck with a ramp leading from the back of it to the porch for easy loading.

Bella in her anger marched right up to the two guys who were loading a big piece of furniture onto the truck. "You can stop right where you are with that and don't you remove another thing from that house until I say so."

The man replied, "Ma'am, I'm sorry but I was hired by the owner of the home to empty this place out."

"Well, Chad," Bella said as she poked the name patch sewn onto the front of his shirt. "That's impossible because I am the owner."

I wanted to laugh at the look of pure confusion that spread across the guy's face. He looked like he was about to shit his pants. And Bella…well…she was furious. She reminded me of the kitten Alice had had when we were kids. Every time it got spooked or irritated its back would arch and its tail fur would poof out and look like it had been electrocuted.

However Chad being much taller than Bella must have thought he could manhandle her and grabbed her arm as if he were going to pull her out of his way.

_No one touches my girl but me_. I was instantly at Bella's side and had Chad's other arm in my hand and twisted up behind his back.

"Take your hand off the lady now. That is unless you want this arm broken," I ordered him while giving his arm another small twist.

"Hey, John, you need to call the cops. We got a situation out here," Chad called.

Bella began to laugh at him. "You don't have any idea who I am, do you?" she asked.

"No, ma'am, I don't and I don't really care. I am just here to do a job and you are preventing me from doing that."

"Are you from around this area?" Bella asked him.

"Yeah, lived here my whole life," Chad answered.

"Do you remember the former police chief of Forks?" was Bella's next question.

"You mean the one before Chief Harrison? Charlie Swan?"

"Yep," she answered popping the "p" at the end of the word.

"What does he have to do with this?" Chad asked, clearly confused by Bella's line of questioning. She was her father's daughter and it was showing right now. I had seen Chief Swan bust a bunch of underage drinkers once down at La Push beach the night of my high school graduation, and Bella's way of questioning Chad reminded me of her father. I was very grateful I hadn't been the one on the other end of his questioning that night and judging by Bella's determination behind hers I knew I would be in for it if we ever had an argument.

"Well, Chad. Let me fill you in," Bella told him. I couldn't help the smirk that formed on my face as she did. "I'm Charlie's daughter and this is my house. My grandmother recently passed and left it to me and my mother. Now beside the fact she didn't have my permission to do this, everyone down at the station is quite fond of me given who my daddy was," she said poking him in the chest again. You could see the realization spread across his face and his hold on Bella's arm fell away. "So, do you really want to call them? 'Cause if so, be my guest. I'd be happy to let them handle this situation."

"No, ma'am," he replied and I let loose of his arm as he did. "I'm just trying to do my job."

"We get that, Chad, and we don't mean to start trouble," I said to him. "But you need to stop for the moment and let Bella find her mother before you remove anything else from the house."

He nodded and said he was going to go inform his co-worker.

No sooner had Chad disappeared inside the house, Bella and I were nearly run over by Renee as we walked through the doorway. Yelling and obviously not expecting us, she said, "What's the hold up? I am not paying you men to take all day."

"In a hurry to get somewhere, Mother?" Bella quipped.

"Oh," she uttered as she stopped dead in her tracks. All the color drained from her face and she looked as though she'd seen a ghost.

"Oh? _Oh?_ OH?" Bella repeated getting louder each time. "Is that all you have to say? How could you? Even after all the things you've said to Edward and me, I never imagined you'd be this uncaring. This cold. I never thought you could be this _heartless_, Mother."

Renee took a deep breath and looked back and forth between Bella and me before her eyes settled on our clasped hands. She then reached up and ran a hand through her hair, smoothing it back out of her face.

"You know, Isabella, when you were a child your dramatics were acceptable, even cute at times. But you're a grown woman now and it's time you stopped such nonsense."

Renee moved past us and headed for the stairs. She stopped with one foot perched on the bottom step. Straightening her back and looking directly ahead at the stairs she said, "Now quit dallying. I didn't expect you to be home so soon, but since you are here you can help. We have a plane to catch this evening."

Renee started to take another step but was stopped when Bella spoke. "No."

"No?" Renee asked like she wasn't sure she had heard Bella correctly.

"That's right, Mother. I said _no_." By this time Bella's chest was heaving as she sucked in gulps of air while she fought to control the anger she was feeling towards her mother.

"It's okay, baby," I leaned forward and whispered in her ear as I ran my hands up and down her arms a few times to try and calm her. "Take a second and breathe. Don't let her get to you."

Bella nodded and leaned back against me for a moment to settle herself. My arms instinctively and immediately wrapped around her when I felt her trembling.

"I love you," I whispered against her ear after I placed a kiss to the side of her head. I hated the effect Renee is having on her.

Renee turned and saw the interaction between Bella and me and must have noticed the effect my words had on her daughter. "You can charm her all you want, Edward. Whisper sweet words to her, but in the end you and your Podunk town aspirations will never be enough to make Isabella happy," she said chastising me as she took a step in our direction.

"You don't have a damn clue about what it takes to make Bella happy," I retorted. "If you did, you wouldn't keep trying to make decisions for her, behind her back, and you would actually stop to ask her what she wants. The only one you are trying to make happy is yourself, Renee. You don't give a shit about what anyone else wants."

She stepped even closer and looked me straight in the eye. She stiffened her posture as if she was preparing for a battle and said, "You won't win. You didn't last time and you won't this time either."

_Oh if she wants a battle she'll get one. She's right, I did lose the battle. Last time. But this time I am going to win the fucking war. _

"You've los—"

"Stop!" Bella demanded preventing me from telling her mother that she'd lost her mind. "Jesus, Mother. You act like my life is some game you can play to win. Like you can manipulate everything I do."

"I'm only doing what's best for you since you can't seem to do it yourself. One day you will thank me."

"No, you're not. All you're doing is making choices for me based on what you want with no regard whatsoever to what I might actually want. I'm not some simulated person you can control and tell what to do whenever the mood hits you. You don't know what's best for me. And Edward is right, you certainly don't have a clue about what _I_ want."

"Oh please, Isabella. You proved you weren't mature enough to make your own decisions when you let James walk out of your life. Now there was a man who had high aspirations. He would have taken you places and given you a good life. I knew bringing you back here was a bad move. I should have just left you in Arizona."

Exasperated with her mother, Bella threw her arms up in the air and let them fall so that her hands smacked her hips loudly when they made contact.

"You know what, Mom? You're right. I was unable to commit to Jimmy. But it had nothing to do with my maturity and everything to with the fact I didn't love him. In fact I'd say I was being very mature by not committing to a relationship that would have been doomed to fail with a man I didn't love. And Jimmy knew that. He knew it and that's why he ended things."

Renee was just about to say something when there was a knock at the door. The three of us turned to see Chad standing in the doorway. "Excuse me but we're on a tight schedule here. If we don't continue soon we aren't going to get finished on time."

"Well why did you stop in the first place?" Renee asked in a scolding tone.

"She," he said while pointing at Bella, "Told us that there had been a mistake. That she was the owner of this house and didn't authorize anything to be moved."

"Oh for heaven's sake," Renee huffed. "Bella, will you please clear this up so they can be on with their work?"

"No, Mother, I won't. For several reasons," Bella informed her firmly.

"Really now, you are just slowing down the inevitable."

"No, Renee. You are the one who is slowing the inevitable because you refuse to accept that Bella has a life here with me and she's not going anywhere with you."

"No one asked for your opinion," Renee spat while glaring at me.

"See, Mother, that's where you're wrong," Bella snapped angrily. "Unlike you Edward _does_ actually know what I want. He listens to me when I tell him how I feel about something. He lets me make my own decisions and doesn't try to bully me into choosing what he wants."

"How long do you think that's going to last, Bella? I thought your father and I wanted the same things in life when we got married. But as time went by, I became bored with small town life and I begged him for us to move. He wouldn't hear of it." Renee paused and suddenly her voice was much softer as she began to speak again. I wasn't sure if she was sincerely upset about speaking of Bella's father, or if she was just trying to play on Bella's emotions by doing it. "So, I stayed, Isabella. I stayed for him. Because I loved him so much. But part of me felt trapped and smothered by the life here and I was never completely happy. I merely existed. I don't want that for you, baby." She reached forward and rested her hand softly on Bella's cheek.

Bella closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes again and fixating them on her mother.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Bella said softly as she reached up and grasped her mother's hand. "I'm sorry that you felt that way. I'm sorry that Daddy and I weren't enough to make you completely happy. But I'm not sorry that I won't be going with you. I'm staying here with Edward. And there is nothing you can say or do to change that."

"What? You can't be serious," Renee huffed.

"Oh I'm very serious. I've been to the big city, Mom. There were a lot of things about Phoenix that I enjoyed. But it's not my home. My home is here with Edward. Hopefully by the time our wedding day arrives, you will have been able to move past this insane idea you have about him not being able to make me happy and you will be there to celebrate with me on one of the happiest days of my life."

In that moment I really and truly hated Renee Swan. I hated that she'd made her daughter feel like she wasn't enough. I hated that she was making Bella feel guilty over the choices she was making and that she was making Bella feel the need to apologize for choosing the life that was going to make her happy. I hated that she was making Bella feel guilty for choosing me.

"Wedding day?" Renee sputtered. "Surely you're not…"

As the words left Renee's mouth, Bella held up her left hand and proudly displayed the ring I'd placed there this morning.

"Edward asked me to marry him and I've accepted. I'm _not _going with you. My life is here with Edward. My home is wherever he is."

"What have you done? You…you…" Renee lunged at me and I was caught off guard and unprepared for her attack; the force of her hands smacking me in the chest nearly knocked me over. "How could you be so irresponsible? How could you get her pregnant? You've ruined her life. That's why she's staying isn't it?" Renee rambled on while pounding her fists on me. "You trapped her, didn't you?"

"Mother, stop it now!" Bella ordered as she pulled her off me.

"How could you let this happen, Bella? I thought I raised you to be a responsible adult. And now you've gone and gotten yourself…knocked up."

"Mother!" Bella exclaimed while grabbing her mother's arms firmly. "I am _not _pregnant. I am marrying Edward because I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him. Why can't you just accept that?"

"Because you're making a huge mistake. Both of you. You will soon discover that you want different things and it will be all over. But by then it will be too late, Bella. You will be stuck here like I was."

"That's where you're wrong, Renee," I told her. I'd had enough of her making Bella feel like shit. "I don't know why Bella's father made the choices he made and I'm not even going to try and guess. But I can tell you one thing. I'd go to the ends of the earth to make your daughter happy. If she's not happy here then I'll go wherever or take her anywhere she wants that will make her happy. But unlike what you've done, if that time does come, it will be a decision that we'll make together."

"Don't come crying to me when your life falls apart, Isabella."

"I won't," Bella told her confidently.

Renee turned to walk out of the room when Bella called her back.

"What now? I have a plane to catch," Renee stated sarcastically.

"I think we still have a bit of business to take care of first. Like how about you tell me how you sold a house that is half mine without my consent?"

"The sale isn't final without your approval," Renee shot back.

"So you didn't sign my name on any legal documents?" Bella questioned.

"No. The sale is contingent upon your approval. The owners are aware that you would have to approve the deal. I have forty-eight hours to get you to sign or the sale is null and void. The contract is on the kitchen table."

Renee turned and tried to leave the room again. "But wait," Bella said.

"Bella, do you not understand that I am in a hurry?"

"Yes, Mother, I do. It's perfectly clear that you are in a hurry. Maybe you should have thought about that before you concocted this scheme of yours. I mean for Christ's sake, you already have the movers here. So I understand perfectly. Your time frame is abundantly clear. But what I don't understand is why you didn't simply tell me you wanted to leave Forks. I don't understand why you felt the need to go behind my back. Do _you_ not understand how this looks to me? How it makes me feel?" Bella asked while waving her hand around at the boxes stacked everywhere.

Then pointing to the moving truck outside she added, "How that looks to me? My god, Mother, it looks like you are packing up for parts unknown, never to be heard from again and leaving me behind without a clue as to where you are going much less a roof over my head. Why? Why would you do that to your only child? You're, only remaining flesh and blood?"

"Actually, Isabella, I had planned to call you home tomorrow. And as far as making the decision on my own…Well let's just say that I didn't feel as though you would make the right choice if I left it up to you." She then glared at me and said, "And I certainly didn't want any outside interference. Clearly I was right on both counts."

"Whether I would make the choice that _you _felt was right or not has no bearing on the fact that you still should have told me and you are still taking everything and leaving.

"No, not everything. I am only taking the pieces I want. The rest you can do what you want with or leave it. And why does it matter, Isabella? You seem to have your future all mapped out. What do you need this house or anything in it for anyways? If you are so sure of what you want, then I'd think I've done you a great big favor. All you have to do now is sign the papers and take your clothes and sail off into the sunset with—" she raised her hand and motioned towards me. "With Prince Charming here."

She took a few steps and just as she was about to reach the front door she turned and said, "Unless you're having second thoughts and want to reconsider, sign the damn papers and be done with it." With that she stormed out the front door over to the side of the truck where Chad was waiting to find out what he was to do next.

It was impossible to not see how Bella's mother's words had affected her. She had held her own against her mother well. And I was so damn proud of her for it. But now that Renee had left the room, the way Bella's shoulders slumped and her face fell forward into her hands told me how difficult this was for her.

"Come here, baby," I murmured while encasing her in my arms. She buried her face in my chest as her tiny hands tightened on the sides of my shirt. I had known this wasn't going to be easy, but I never dreamed Renee would be so cruel and heartless to her own daughter. When I felt Bella's shoulders shake as a few strangled sobs escaped, I tightened my hold on her. "It's okay, baby. Let it out."

I heard her pull in a few long breaths of air before she looked up at me. Wiping her eyes she said softly, "No. Not here. Not now. I won't let her have the satisfaction of knowing how much she is hurting me."

"You know you're not going to be able to hold it in forever."

"I know. So keep your shoulder ready, I might need it to cry on later."

"It's yours whenever you need it," I said before leaning down and kissing her gently.

Bella sighed loudly and then stepping back, she grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, let's go look at this paperwork so we can get this over with."

"What kind of shady real-estate agent agrees to such terms?" I asked Bella as we made our way into the kitchen.

"I have no clue," she replied.

Just like Renee had said there was a folder sitting on the kitchen table. As Bella and I looked over the papers, from what we could tell, everything seemed to be in agreement with what Renee had told us. But the name of the agent kept pinging around in my head like I'd heard it before.

"What was the agent's name again?" I asked Bella.

She thumbed through a few pages before finding the name again. "Janice Jenks. Why?"

"I keep thinking I've heard that name before."

"Like you think you know her?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I don't know her, it's her last name that seems familiar."

"Good or bad familiar?" Bella asked.

"Neither. But you know, I bet my mom would know. She has a couple of friends in the business. How about I give her a call?"

"Okay," she said rising up on her toes and giving me a quick kiss. "I'm going to go see if my mother has done anything with my stuff."

"I'll come up after I talk to her okay?"

"Okay."

***X*X*X*X***

A few minutes later after speaking with my mom, I headed upstairs to fill Bella in on the conversation.

"Mmm, I love you," I whispered against her ear as I snuck up behind her and snaked my arms around her waist.

"You too," she returned tilting her head back and kissing the spot where my jaw and neck met. Turning around in my arms she asked, "Did you talk to your mom?"

"Yeah. She knew exactly who I was talking about. Turns out this Janice Jenks is the niece of her friend, Jennifer."

"So does that mean she's legit?"

"It would appear so. Mom said Janice is a bit of a rookie, she just graduated this past spring, but she would never agree to anything underhanded or illegal. She gave me Jennifer's number and I called her as well."

"Oh, what did she have to say?"

"She assured me that everything in the contract was legal and straight forward, that there are contingency clauses placed in home contracts all the time. She said that her niece had talked to her about the deal before she drew the contract up and that she had no clue that it was someone who was so close to our family or she would have handled the deal herself."

"Well it's good to know it's all legitimate and there are no loop holes or anything to worry about."

"No there's not. She said the couple wanting the house just moved here and the husband had gotten a last minute job transfer and they were in desperate need of housing. Something about there not being any place for their kids to play in the temporary place the man's employer had put them up in."

"Well then," Bella said blowing out a slow breath and brushing her hair back out of her face. "I guess there's nothing left to do then except for me signing the papers."

"Hey," I said, cupping her face in my hands. "Are you sure that's what you want? We can live here if you want to keep your grandmother's house."

"You really are the perfect man, aren't you?" She reached up and ran her fingers softly against my cheek.

"I don't know about that," I told her, turning my face and kissing the palm of her hand. "But I'd like to think I'm perfect for you."

I couldn't help but smile back when she flashed me a bright smile and said, "You are. And no, I don't want to keep the house. With us both working in Port Angeles, it just doesn't make sense. Besides, this family really needs a home, and I was planning on moving in with you anyways, remember?"

"I do. And I'm glad you are." We kissed briefly and then I asked as I looked around the room, "So are you taking everything in here?" It appeared that Renee had already packed up most of Bella's things.

"Just what's in the boxes I guess."

I heard a sense of longing in her voice and knew she wasn't being completely truthful. "Bella, if there is more, we will find a way. Now tell me what you want to take with you."

"Well, I would really like to take my bedroom set. It was Gran's before she married Grandpa and it's been kept in the family all this time. My mom used it at one point and I did when I was younger. I just thought—" She stopped and was suddenly blushing lightly and chewing on her bottom lip.

"Thought what?"

"Well I just thought that since it was an antique and in really good shape, we could save it for when we had kids. For if we had a little girl someday."

I looked at the dark wood sleigh bed and was struck with the image of a brown haired little girl with bright green eyes snuggled up under frilly pink bedding fast asleep.

"Okay."

"Okay what?" she asked.

"Okay, if you want the bedroom set we'll take it."

"But where will we put it?"

"I'm pretty sure it will fit in the small storage space I have in the basement of my apartment building. It's empty except for a little bit of camping gear. We can leave it there until we find a bigger place."

"Really?"

"Really." I pulled her closer to me and kissed her again. When we broke for air, I couldn't resist whispering against her ear, "By the way, I can't wait for you to have my baby."

"Hmm, well," she said holding her left hand up and wiggling her ring finger at me. With a teasing grin on her face she said, "You have another ring to add to this finger before we start making babies, Mr. Cullen."

"Name the time and place, baby. I'm there."

"Soon, very soon. But first I need to go sign those papers."

***X*X*X*X***

Bella hadn't been gone from the room more than about five minutes. I was in the process of taking the mattress and box springs from the bed so that I could see if I could easily take the frame apart, when I heard someone behind me clearing their throat. I looked up to find Renee leaning against the door frame with an arrogant smirk on her face.

"You must just be beside yourself happy right now," she chided.

"What the hell are you talking about, Renee? I see very little to be happy with right at the moment."

She chuckled darkly and took a few steps into the room. "Oh please. Spare me your mock concern. You must be so pleased with yourself. It's seems you've won." She walked over and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. "For now anyways," she added sarcastically.

"For now?" I shook my head back and forth while laughing at her remark. "I don't think so, Renee. There won't be a next time. I won't let you break Bella's heart like this again. For that matter, I don't think Bella will let you," I told her as I went back to working on removing the bedding from the frame, not even bothering to look at her.

"Like I said before…soon enough you will both realize what a mistake you've made, how you don't want the same things anymore and she will come crawling back to me. And of course I'll be there to pick up the pieces and put her back together just like last time."

"Last time? You manipulated that situation too. How'd that work for you, Renee, who is she choosing now? You think I'm happy and relishing in the fact that the woman I love is hurting because she's being forced to choose the man she loves over her mother? That's pretty sick even for you, Renee."

"Oh come on now. I'm sure you're doing a little happy dance inside because she's chosen you."

"No, Renee, I'm not. The fact that she has even been put in the position of choosing between us makes me sick. And I did warn you. I told you our love was too strong for you to break this time. "

"Always the chivalrous one," she sneered.

"There's nothing chivalrous about it and if you think there is then you would be wrong. It makes me incredibly sad. The woman I love, your daughter, is hurting. I don't know about you, but I don't get any pleasure from that at all."

I moved around to the other side of the bed and picked up the side rail of the bed frame and slid it out of the brackets holding it to the headboard. I had already done so on the other side. After making sure the headboard was leaning against the wall and wouldn't fall over, I walked to the foot to do the same with the footboard. Once it was free, I stood and looked directly at her.

"Bella shouldn't have to choose either one of us over the other. If you weren't happy here, she would have been sad to see you go but she would have accepted it willingly because she'd want you to be happy. Because unlike you, your daughter is an amazing, unselfish and caring woman. She'd never ask you to make this kind of a choice. It's just a shame you can't do the same for her." Not wanting to even be in the same room as her any longer, I picked up the footboard and headed down to my truck.

***X*X*X*X***

A couple of hours later Bella and I had managed to get all of her things, along with the furniture she wanted and some dishes and cookware from the kitchen, piled into my truck. It was a good thing I had an extended cab or we'd have never gotten it all in one load.

Bella had signed all the paperwork and her mother had informed her that her share of the funds from the sale of the house would be paid to her through the bank financing the loan for the family buying the house.

I watched and felt my heart break for Bella as she tried to say goodbye to her mother, but Renee was a cold bitch to her insisting that she was sure she'd see her soon. If I could have ripped that woman limb from limb at the moment, it still wouldn't have made me feel any better after seeing the way she was hurting Bella.

Bella remained quiet on the way home, much as she had on the way to Forks. I knew it was her way of trying to come to terms with what had happened, but I also knew there would be a time when it would be too much for her and she'd fall apart.

Unfortunately I was right. That night as we laid in bed wrapped around each other, that was exactly what she did. As she cried her heart out over the pain she was feeling, I held her and did everything I could to soothe her and help her work out her anger and pain over what her mother had done. I also vowed to her I'd never let anyone ever hurt her like that again. And I meant it. If I had my way, she'd be happy and have a beaming smile on her face every day for the rest of her life. I'd do everything in my power to make it happen.

**Soooo…Who wants to drive a stake through Renee's heart right about now?**

**There is a picture of Bella's engagement ring posted under the tab for this story on my blog. Thank you My-Bella for adding the inscription to the ring for me!**

**Need something to read over the holidays? Check these out these great fics.**

_**Beneath The Surface **_**by My-Bella and myself. **

_**Twelve Days of Christmas **_**by Teamswitzerlandmom**

_**Speak Now**_**, by Saritadreaming & wmr1601**

_**Aloha 'Oe **_**by NoelleSeven. **

**All can be found on my favorite stories list.**

**For all of you who have read _WORTH THE BURN _by My-Bella and myself, it was nominated by some of you for the Fic that Moves You The Most. Show it some love and head over to The Lemonade Stand and vote for it. The link is on my profile page.  
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**Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I'd love to be sweet and say that I'd send you all Edward for Christmas, but I'd be lying because I'd have to keep him for myself. ;)**

**EA**


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy Friday everyone! I loved hearing all your thoughts and opinions on Renee. Some of you had some very creative ways for dealing with her. I had one reader who said she would be considered job security where she lives in Southern Texas—saying that people like Renee usually cause such mayhem and destruction in their wake that the police, fire departments and other EMS departments are always busy cleaning up their mess. And another reader who suggested I erase Renee from the story completely and make it as if she never existed. Hmm…I think we have heard those words somewhere before. LOL **

**A little bit of a time jump throughout the chapter. I've pointed out where it happens. **

**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer:**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original aspects of this story—all original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted**_**. Unauthorized**__**use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_** I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise mentioned in this story. And of course just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended. **

**~*Bella*~**

**Mid October**

"Thanks again for having us over," I said to Esme while pulling the items I needed out of the fridge to help her prepare a salad to go with dinner.

"Oh, it's our pleasure, dear," she said with a loving smile on her face. They had invited us over for a barbeque to celebrate my and Edward's engagement.

Carlisle and Esme had been thrilled with our news and had wanted to celebrate sooner, but had wanted some time to recover from the fiasco my mother had pulled, as well as get settled in with Edward. We'd also decided to wait until the baseball season was finished so Emmett and Rose could attend.

It hadn't been easy to accept what my mother had done. Even though it had been nearly a month since my mother had packed up and left for Jacksonville, Florida, I still had a hard time understanding why or how she could do what she had done.

When I had been contacted by the bank handling the financing of Gran's house for the couple purchasing it, wanting to verify my mother's new address, I realized that I may never understand her motives since I hadn't even been aware of where she was going. I had been under the impression she had been returning to Arizona since she had seemed happy there during the time we had lived there. So I had been surprised when the bank had a forwarding address located somewhere in Jacksonville, Florida. All I could tell them at that point was that if that was the address she had given them, then it must be correct.

But finding out my mother hadn't even taken the time to inform me of where she was going, I realized then that I couldn't let what she'd done interfere in my life any longer or hold me back from being happy with Edward. And living with Edward, thinking about becoming his wife, made me incredibly happy.

"So have you two picked a date?" Esme asked.

"Um, no. Not yet. We've figured out where we want to have it, but not a date yet," I answered her.

"Bella wants to get married on Christmas Eve but thinks it would be intruding on our family traditions."

"Edward." I narrowed my eyes and shot my fiancé an evil glare. I was afraid that once he told his mother she'd feel obligated to let us have the wedding on that day even if it did interrupt their normal celebrations.

"Oh, Edward is getting the look from Bella. Dude, your ass is gonna be sleeping on the couch before you're even hitched," Emmett's booming voice teased having walked into the kitchen just in time to see my reaction to what Edward had said. "What?" he asked as we all snickered when Rose whacked him on the back of the head. "Didn't you see that look Bella gave him?" he exclaimed as he grabbed a cucumber slice from the counter.

"Emmett Adam Cullen," Esme scolded her oldest son while smacking his hand. He was getting it from his wife and his mother today and none of us could hold back our laughs. "Keep your hands out of the food and watch your mouth. You know better."

"Sorry, Ma. I love you," he told her as he moved around the kitchen island to pull her into a bone crushing hug and planted a huge sloppy and loud kiss on his mother's cheek.

"You're forgiven," she replied, while wiping her face off on the sleeve of her shirt. He flashed a big toothy grin at all of us until Esme added, "But only if you go outside and see if your father needs help with the grill."

"Okay," he murmured as he scampered out the back door with a dejected look on his face. You would have thought someone had stolen his puppy or had told him he had to sit out next season. Rose followed behind to take Lily out on the swing set Carlisle and Esme had set up for when their granddaughter was visiting. She was laughing at his reaction, knowing it was fake.

"Now. What was this about getting married on Christmas Eve?" my future mother-in-law turned to me and asked as she went back to slicing more cucumber.

"It's really not a big deal. I know you have always had a big family dinner that night and I don't want to interfere with your traditions. We can pick another date."

Esme set her knife down on the counter and scooped up the sliced cucumber with her hands and put it in the bowl with the rest of the salad fixings. After rinsing her hands in the small prep sink located in the island, she dried them and turned back around to face me.

Placing her hands on my shoulders she said, "First of all, we would all still be together for a wonderful celebration. So it's not like you would be interfering with that."

I nodded realizing what she said was true.

"Why don't you tell me why you would want to have it on Christmas Eve? Is it because that's when you and Edward reconnected?" she asked.

"Well, that's part of it." I could feel my face heat and knew I was blushing. How did I tell her why it was such a special day for Edward and me without revealing that we used to sneak off and make out under the mistletoe in her dining room doorway?

Sensing my discomfort, Edward came to my rescue. Coming up behind me, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "What Bella isn't saying is that it had been on Christmas Eve when I had first told her I loved her years ago."

"Well, honey, no wonder it's such a special day for the two of you," Esme acknowledged with a soft warm smile on her face as she reached over to squeeze my hand.

"Yeah, it is," Edward confirmed before placing a kiss on the side of my neck. He then glanced up at his mother and said, "We may have stolen a kiss or two under the dining room mistletoe too."

"So that's where the two of you always disappeared to. Did you really think your father and I had never noticed you guys were nowhere to be seen?"

Edward chuckled at his mother's declaration and I felt my face warming again from the all too familiar blush of mine.

"It's ok, dear," Esme said, patting me on the arm. "Carlisle and I used to do the same thing. Why do you think there is mistletoe hanging in a doorway so far from the main gathering area? We might be getting up there in age, but we're not dead."

She winked at the two of us. I giggled this time while Edward cringed."Mom, please. I do _not_ need to know what you and Dad do while you're alone."

"Well, I think it's settled. Bella, Christmas Eve is obviously a very special day for you and my son. I think it would be wonderful for you to make it even more special by getting married on that day."

"You do?" I asked. My voice had squeaked and I was smiling widely, not at all able to hide the excitement I was feeling over her approval.

"Yes. If you and Edward want to get married on Christmas Eve then you have my blessing and I am sure Carlisle will agree." She hugged me and walked across the room to grab some items to finish the salad from the fridge adding, "Just don't wait too long to decide. We do have to make preparations, invitations to send out and it's already mid October."

Edward turned me in his arms so I was facing him. "Is a Christmas Eve wedding what you really want?"

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"I do too. I can't think of a better day for you to become my wife." He leaned in and kissed me sweetly. Sooner than I would have liked, he ended the kiss so we didn't get too carried away in front of his mother. "Unless you want to runaway to Rio with me tomorrow," he teased.

"Like hell you will," Alice exclaimed alerting us to her arrival. She had apparently been lurking and listening to our conversation. "You'll do no such thing. A Christmas Eve wedding will be absolutely gorgeous. Come on," she demanded as she took my hand and pulled me away from Edward. "We have tons of planning to do. We can go with red and white, red and gold or silver, or ice blue and silver, maybe something green. Just so many possibilities. Oh, I have some old Brides magazines up in my old room. The dresses will be outdated, but we can get a general idea of the style you like."

"Save me," I begged Edward as I held on to his shirt trying to keep Alice from dragging me away.

He held tight to me for a minute and kissed me quickly again. "Just tell me if she gets too crazy and I'll book us on the first flight to Rio."

"Okay," I said through my laughter as Alice towed me away. As much as I wanted to stay in his arms, I was actually eager and excited to plan the day I would become his wife.

***X*X*X*X*X***

It had completely baffled and amazed me how fast Alice, Esme, Rose and I had been able to pull together all the details for my and Edward's wedding. It had only taken us three weeks to pull it all together.

Our first task had been to reserve the View Point Inn and the second had been to find my dress. Alice had said that once those two things were accomplished the rest would fall into place. Of course she had been right and after scouring several online sites, looking through every page of every Bride's magazine Alice could get her hands on and spending a weekend in Seattle combing every bridal shop there was, we had done it. I had my dress and had known it was the one the instant I'd seen it.

There had been a few bittersweet moments along the way though. We had all gone to Seattle on the excursion to find my gown and the bridesmaid dresses. While Alice, Rose, Esme and me had gone shopping for the gowns, the men had gotten fitted for their tuxes and had gone to the college football game at U-Dub. But when Alice and Esme talked about some of the experiences they'd had while shopping for Alice's wedding gown, I couldn't help wishing things were different between my mother and me. I couldn't help thinking that she should be there with me, helping me choose my dress and taking part in all of the planning of my wedding. And I couldn't help but wish that I could at least know that she was happy for Edward and me.

For the most part I had not let what she'd done interfere at all in my life. I was so very, very happy with Edward and I loved him so much.

However there were just times like now, when I was contemplating on whether or not I should send her an invitation that I couldn't deny how much it hurt. She was my mother and was supposed to be happy for me. Even if she couldn't be here to share in the planning, I should be able to send her pictures and call her and ask for her advice and opinions. Esme had been absolutely wonderful. She was truly like a second mother to me and I loved her as if she were. But there was still this ache in my heart that wished for my mother to be a part in all that was going on.

"Just mail it," whispered the warm velvety voice of my soon-to-be husband. His mouth was so close to my ear I could feel his warm breath on my neck.

"Do you think I should?"

"I think if you don't you are going to constantly wonder what if and it will eat at you for a very long time."

"You know me so well."

"I do. And I love you too much to let anything at all cloud our day. I want our wedding day to be one of the happiest days of your life. Not one where you second guess any choices you've made or have any regrets about." He turned me around on the swiveling desk chair I was sitting on at my desk and squatted down in front of me. Taking both my hands in his he said, "Sweetheart, at least if you send the invitation you will know you did everything you could and you won't have any reason to feel guilty. You won't have any what ifs nagging at you. If you send it and she doesn't come to our wedding then it's all on her."

***X*X*X*X***

***Renee***

**December 1**

"Renee, I swear if you don't mail that response I will," Phil told me as he watched me pick up the already filled out and sealed reply to the invitation I had been sent to Bella's wedding. I had just set it back down for what felt like the millionth time.

"You stubborn wonderful man. You would do it too, wouldn't you?"

"I would. You don't think you are the only one who can be stubborn do you?"

"No," I sighed.

"Okay. So then what's the problem? You want to make amends with your daughter, correct?" he asked while taking my hand in his and placing a soft kiss to the back of it. I was still trying to get used to all of the attention he bestowed on me. I had always known that Charlie loved me, but he was never one to openly show his emotions or attention. He had been a very private man.

However, Phil was constantly showering me with affection and telling me how much he cared for me. How much he loved me. My feelings for him had been part of the catalyst that had shown me how horribly wrong I'd been about Edward and Bella's feelings for each other and how horribly wrong I'd been in trying to make decisions for my daughter.

Phil and I had only been together for a couple of months now. We'd met a couple of weeks after I'd moved to Jacksonville, when I'd accidently backed into the bumper of his car with mine at the grocery store. It had ironically been the day I'd received the wedding invite in the mail and had been grumbling about it to myself and not paying attention to where I was going.

"Renee?"

"Yeah," I said coming out of my thoughts.

"Where'd you go just now?"

"I was just thinking about everything."

"About Bella and her wedding?"

"Yes."

"Then answer me," he urged. "Do you want to make amends with her?"

"Yes. I do," I replied sincerely. "I want to make amends with her very much."

"So then why are you still hesitating?"

I blew out a long breath and then gazed up into his blue eyes. They reminded me of the ocean waters down the path behind our home. "I'm scared."

"Scared of what, baby?" he asked as he pulled me into his arms.

"Scared of being too late. Of my apology not being enough. Scared of her not forgiving me," I admitted softly.

"I understand why you would feel that way. From what you've told me, you really pulled a number on her."

I sighed again and shook my head in frustration. I was well aware of how manipulative and conniving I'd been.

"Hey," he said lifting my chin so I was forced to look at him again. "I'm not trying to chastise you or make you feel worse than you already do. I'm just trying to say I understand why you'd be worried she might not accept your apology. But you must know you will never find out unless you try. If you give up now that you have really come to understand how wrong you were and don't tell her, what good does it do anyone?"

"None."

"Exactly. So are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way, which would be me mailing it for you?"

"I will. I'm going to walk up to the box at the end of the drive and then take a walk along the beach."

"Okay. Want me to come along?"

"Nah, I think I want a few minutes to myself."

"Okay, baby." He kissed me lightly on the lips and then headed into the kitchen.

"Hey," he called peeking back through the kitchen doorway. "I'm looking forward to meeting your daughter. Don't make me have to call her myself and accept on your behalf because some sudden gust of wind has unexpectedly sent that response flying into the ocean."

I smiled knowing he meant well even if he was indicating to me he still had doubts about whether I'd actually mail the acceptance card back to Bella.

"I'm going to mail it. I promise. I need to make things right with her."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."

I held the envelope tightly in my hand as I took the steps that would lead me one more step closer to making amends with Bella. Or at least one step closer to my attempt to make things right with her.

I walked past the four houses that were between ours and the center of the cul-de-sac we lived on. There were eight houses in total on our horseshoe shaped drive where the mailbox was located right in the center median of the drive. Once I reached the box, I pulled the navy blue handle and held the envelope over the opening in the box as I dug my cellphone out of the back pocket of my jean shorts to snap a picture of it falling in.

_That is if I could figure out how to use the phone camera. I seemed to repel technology and had a hard enough time using the phone itself._

Luckily it was easy to snap the picture and afterwards I even pulled the door back open to make sure it had slid down into the body of the mailbox.

_There. It's done and out of my hands now. No way to get it back even if I wanted to. _

After sending a text of the picture to Phil along with a short message telling him I wouldn't be long on my walk, I crossed the street and headed down the path that lead to the beach behind the cul-de-sac. My thoughts again drifted to the amount of time I'd been here in Florida and how it felt as though it had been so much longer than the two and a half months it had actually been.

I also thought about if I hadn't been so stubborn and selfish, I might have seen my mistake long before I had.

I thought back to the letter I'd received from my mother along with the papers from her attorney that had handled her will. He had been the executor of her will and had handled the finalization of the legal details surrounding the sale of my mother's house in my absence.

When I had first read the letter, I had thought that my mother had simply been defending Bella. The two of them had always been very close and my mother had been a romantic at heart as was her granddaughter. She had told me several times after my and Bella's return to Forks that I needed to stay out of Bella's personal life and her relationship with Edward unless Bella herself came to me for advice. Of course thinking she had been just a soft old woman who missed her own husband, I had disregarded everything she had said just as I had her letter the first time I'd read it. I now knew just how incredibly wrong I'd been.

The letter had contained a lot of her memories from several of her favorite moments in my childhood and Isabella's too. However she also spoke to me through her words about some observations she had made.

My mother had explained to me in the letter how she had felt that I had been running from life since Charlie had died. She had said that it had begun when I'd taken Bella and moved to Arizona after he had been fatally shot. She had told me how she understood that living in Forks was a painful reminder of his life and his death, but that she didn't understand how I had shut myself off and hadn't let myself form any emotional attachments to anyone other than Bella.

She'd gone on to explain that while she understood that I'd needed time to grieve for Charlie and to move past his death, she didn't like that I had essentially closed my heart off and had failed to see that I was still a relatively young woman with a lot of life yet to live and that I shouldn't condemn myself to spending it alone. That while Charlie may have been the love of my life, there was no reason to believe that I couldn't love and be loved again.

After that she had told me that if I continued to cling to Isabella as my only emotional attachment in my life that I was going to cling too tightly and in the process I was going to push her away.

While I had enjoyed reliving the memories my mother had written about, I blew off everything she had said about my and Bella's relationship and about how she had perceived me to be living my life. When I now thought about the time I wasted and all I had missed out on because of it, it made me sick to my stomach. If I had heeded my mother's words, I could have fixed things between Bella and me sooner and I could have played a part in helping her plan her wedding. Those were experiences I could never get back and it was something I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

It was actually quite scary to think that it had taken me thinking I might lose Phil to realize what a mess I'd made of my life.

My heart hurt as I thought back to the day it had all hit me. Phil was the catcher for the minor league baseball team located here in Jacksonville. I'd been sitting behind home plate in the seats reserved for family members when the collision had occurred. He had just caught the ball thrown in from the outfield and was blocking the plate to prevent the runner coming in from scoring. The runner had slid into him so hard it had sent him flying backwards and somehow the force of the runner hitting him caused his helmet to fall off and his head had smacked the ground so hard he had been out cold instantly.

The horror of watching his limp body being carted off the field by the paramedics and then sitting at his bedside praying for him to wake up had been what had woken me up and had opened my eyes to what I had done to my daughter.

I remembered feeling so helpless and so full of shame thinking that I was going to lose another man that I loved and that this time it was all my fault. I had been certain I was being punished for how I had treated Bella.

At that point in time Phil had been aware I had a daughter but he hadn't had any idea what had taken place between us. All I had told him was that she had remained in Forks with her fiancé. He had asked a few questions about Bella—her age, when they were getting married and just general things. I had answered them all and had told him they hadn't set a date when I had left, which was fortunately the truth as far as I had known at the time.

I had been sitting at his bedside, crying and begging him to wake up and promising if he did that I would tell him everything and that I would also do whatever it took to make it up to Bella. I had promised while crying that if I had to get down on my knees and beg her for her forgiveness then that is what I would do.

Once Phil had been released from the hospital, I had done exactly as I had promised. I told him the whole story going all the way back to the first Christmas when I had manipulated Bella into not going to Forks. And when I was finished and he had asked me why I'd done it, the only answer I could give him was that I had been afraid of losing her too. He had then told me he thought I had still had issues of Charlie's death and when I had allowed him to read the letter from my mother, he had said all she'd said made sense to him and asked me to think about seeing someone.

I stopped and sat in the sand, letting the surf wash up over my feet as I remembered reading the letter for the second time. It had been later the same night as when I had filled Phil in on everything. I had been sitting on our bedroom balcony while rereading the letter. As I did I had finally seen what my mother had been talking about. So many emotions had washed over me at once. Guilt, shame, self loathing and self hatred had been few of them. Not only had I been ashamed of what I'd done, but I had been mortified by what Charlie must think of me if he had any inkling from where he was.

I had realized Phil was right, I needed to seek professional help so that I could fix myself before I attempted to fix things with Bella. I didn't know how to do it on my own and I wanted to do it right.

That had been mid October and that night I promised Charlie that I would never let his—our baby girl down again if I was granted a second chance at being a part of her life.

Kicking off my flip flops, I wiggled my toes in the water while I thought about what my therapist had explained to me.

It was her belief that when Charlie died, I let my grief over losing him eat me up until it consumed me and dictated everything I did in my life. In the process I had become paranoid I was going to lose Bella too and had clung too tightly to her. As a result I began to manipulate her life in any way I could in order to keep her as close to me as possible. My therapist had helped me see that in the process of holding on too tightly, I pushed Bella away by trying to control every aspect of her life. I became a manipulative, controlling, conniving person and it cost me the one person I loved most in this world. My daughter.

I wiped away a few tears that trickled down my cheek as I prayed again that Bella would be understanding and would give me another chance to be her mother. The kind of mother she deserved. One who was caring and loving and who supported the choices her daughter made and was there for her if they didn't work out.

Although one thing I was certain of now more than ever—Bella and Edward had the kind of love that lasts forever. I knew because I was now getting to experience that kind of love for the second time in my life. I would never say that I loved Charlie or Phil more than the other, but because they were two completely different men, my love for them was different too, while still being that all encompassing kind of love.

I noticed it was getting dark and realized I had been gone a lot longer than I had intended to be. I got up to head home so Phil wouldn't worry. When I stood after brushing the sand off my backside, I looked up to find him standing in front of me.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you," I apologized as I stepped closer to him and placed both my hands on his chest.

"I wasn't worried; I've been about twenty feet behind you for a while now."

"You were? Why?" I asked him, wondering if he had really doubted me so much and had thought he'd have to watch me to make sure I had mailed the invitation.

"Because I had a feeling you'd need me. I wanted to be close in case you did." He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close to him. "So how are you?"

"Still scared. But I know for now it's out of my hands."

"It is. But remember, she did make the first move in sending you the invitation. I think that says a lot about how she is probably feeling," he told me as he slid his hands down my arms and then linked his fingers with mine. He tugged me gently, indicating he was ready to head towards home.

"I just hope I'm not too late," I sighed.

"Just remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"I will be there for you no matter what. We'll deal with it together."

***X*X*X*X***

***~Bella~***

**December 16, 2011**

"Ugh," I groaned. "Why does she do this to me?" I asked myself out loud as I dropped both pairs of shoes to the floor.

"Who is the she you are referring to, Love?" Edward stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs that clung to him deliciously in all the right places. "Bella? Bella?"

"Huh?" was all I could manage to get out. I was still confounded by the sight of him in his current state of undress. Looking at his body and knowing he was mine, was something I'd never get tired of.

He walked across the room and watching him certainly didn't add to my current mental state. He sat down next to me on the bed. Wearing a smirk that told me he knew exactly the effect he had on me, he stated, "I asked you who it is that has you so frustrated."

"You mean other than you?" I replied with just enough playful sarcasm in my voice to let him know I was on to him. He knew how I reacted to seeing him naked or even just barely covered like he was now. And he also knew that I knew he loved evoking that reaction from me. More often than not it led to some fantastic love making, but we didn't have time right now and he knew that as well.

He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. "Yes, besides me." He chuckled and kissed me again.

"The who I was referring to is your sister."

"What has Alice done now?"

"She gave me a choice."

"You are gonna have to help me out here, Sweetheart. I have no clue what you are talking about."

"Shoes. She should know better than to give me options. She gave me two pairs to choose from and I have no clue which ones to pick. I like them both."

"Bella? Edward?" Rose called from somewhere upstairs.

"Put your clothes back on, you can christen your new house later," Emmett called. His words along with the sound of their footsteps grew louder as they neared our room.

Edward quickly grabbed a t-shirt and his pants and pulled them on.

"Which room are you guys in?" Rose queried from the hall.

It had only been a week since Edward and I had moved into our new house. Emmett and Rose had taken Lily to Disney World as an early Christmas present and had yet to see it. They had gone early to avoid the crowd of all the other families who would also be taking their children there for Christmas.

"We're in here," Edward replied as he opened our bedroom door.

"See, Babe, I told you they were getting busy. Eddie here is not even dressed yet," Emmett commented as he and Rose entered our bedroom.

"Yes, because I 'get busy' as you put it while I'm fully clothed, Emmett." The sound of my voice caused him to take notice of the fact that I was completely dressed.

"You're such an ass, Em," Edward said as he grabbed his dress shirt off our closet door.

I bent over and picked up both pairs of shoes from where I'd dropped them on the floor in my frustration over choosing. "Black or silver, Rose? If you help me pick which pair of shoes I should wear, I'll be happy to show you around so Edward can finish getting dressed."

"Silver," she said without hesitation.

"Thanks," I told her and then added as I slipped the shoes on, "If your husband can behave, he can come too."

Emmett got a shocked look on his face. "What?" I asked him as I stood and took a few steps towards him until I was able to reach up and pinch his cheek. "We all know you aren't the angel those dimples of yours would have everyone believe."

Rose and Edward both erupted in laughter at my teasing of Emmett.

"If I've never said it before, I will now," Rose said leaning over to hug me. "You fit perfectly in this family. I'm so happy for you and Edward."

As I returned her hug I caught a glimpse of Edward from over Rose's shoulder and saw a beaming smile on his face. He winked and mouthed the words "I love you" to me.

"Let's go. I'm excited to see the rest of this gorgeous house you guys have before we have to go to dinner." Rose linked her arm around mine and looked back over her shoulder. "Come on, Emmett. Leave your brother alone so he can get dressed."

Since our master bedroom was close to the stairs leading to the main floor of the house, I took them back upstairs first so that by the time we got back down to the lower level, Edward would be dressed and I could show them our whole room and master bathroom.

Our house sat on a hillside with a north facing deck and covered porch that gave us an amazing view of the Port Angeles Harbor along with the Canadian mountains across it.

As we reached the landing of the main floor, we found ourselves in the main living area of the house. It was a wide open space that encompassed our living room, dining room and the kitchen. Esme had told me when she was helping me decorate that it was often called a great room.

The space had a high vaulted ceiling with warm rustic beams and a stone fireplace in the living room.

"I love how you have everything right here together and how bright it is from all the light that is streaming in from the windows," Rose said as she strolled from one area to the next.

"I do too. Everything is basic and simple, but yet still warm and cozy."

"It really is. Esme is great at what she does."

"She is," I agreed. "I could have never pulled this place together without her."

"Is Alice still miffed you didn't let her help?" Rose inquired.

"No. She didn't like it, but she understood. She was busy with the wedding still when we'd found the place, that helped distract her. Besides, Alice's ideas on decorating and mine are way far apart. I knew Esme would listen to what Edward and I wanted while also making suggestions of her own."

Rose nodded in agreement before turning to look around some more.

"Hey. What's out here?" Emmett asked as he opened the large French doors leading outside.

I walked across the room and flipped the switch to turn on the outside lights.

"Damn, look at this deck. You and Edward can host some kick ass parties out here, little sis."

"I promise we'll have you over for barbeque in the summer, Em."

We left Emmett to finish checking out the deck as Rose pulled me towards the front of the house in her eagerness to see the rest. "And I thought Edward had a lot of books," Rose said as we made our way into the sitting room near the front of the house. "I'm not as big a reader as the two of you, but I do love the reading nook. There was one in your bedroom too right?"

"Yeah. Most of our books are here. But we have some of our favorites in our room."

She sat down on the window seat and patted the space beside her. "Sit. There's something I wanted to talk to you about and I hope that you won't think I'm sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong."

She had a slightly uneasy expression on her face and I wanted to put her at ease. I was pretty sure there wasn't anything she'd say that would offend me. Rose and Emmett had spent a lot of their weekends in Forks since the baseball season had ended and Rose and I were growing closer. It was great having another friend besides Alice. Not that I didn't love Alice to death. It was just nice to have someone else.

"I am sure I won't think that. So shoot. What's on your mind?"

"Well, Emmett told me that you had, had a bit of a hard time accepting Carlisle and Esme's offer to give you the down payment on the house as a wedding gift."

"Yeah I did at first. But it didn't take long to see they weren't going to give up. Why are you bringing it up?"

"I just wanted you to know that I had a hard time at first too, when they made the same offer to Em and me. They also did the same for Alice and Jasper."

"That's what Edward told me. It was one of the things that eventually led to me being okay with it," I admitted to her.

"You know, Bella. I don't know the whole story about you and Edward. But I know that Carlisle and Esme think of you like their own daughter. You may have been gone for six years, but you were certainly not forgotten. You were still mentioned from time to time and it was clear how much they all loved and missed you." She paused for a second and then took my hand in hers and said, "Especially Edward. I've never seen him as happy as I have in this past year. So I just wanted you to know that they offer the gifts they do because they love you."

"Thanks, Rose." I swiped away a few tears that had fallen and hugged her tightly. "I love them and you too just as much."

It had been hard for me to accept so much money from Edward's parents. I had the money from the sale of my grandmother's house and it was way more than enough to cover our down payment. But in the long run I had seen that they were doing it out of love for both Edward and me and by them doing so, it allowed Edward and me to furnish and decorate the house in any way we wanted to, plus take a real honeymoon near the end of the summer since for now we were going someplace local. I didn't know where, all Edward would tell me was that it wasn't far.

"What do you say we go find those men of ours?" she asked as she stood and smoothed the lines of her red satin dress.

We made our way through the rest of the upstairs, which held an office big enough for Edward and me both as well as the main floor restroom. We then headed back downstairs where I took Rose through the four bedrooms. One was set up as a guest room, one was the master bedroom, which we had allowed Esme to decorate for us, and the other was filled with my old bedroom set from Gran's and some other items that I had decided to take as a memory of my grandmother. The last bedroom was empty since we hadn't done anything with it yet.

"What are you going to do with this room?" Rose asked. "It'd make a great nursery since it's next to your master bedroom."

"That's eventually the plan," I told her.

"Eventually?"

"Yeah. Edward and I have no doubts about our love or the fact that we want children. But aside from this past year we were apart for a long time and we want a little while to ourselves before we begin the next phase in our lives."

"Makes sense," she offered. Then she turned around and shot me a wide grin. "Just don't wait too long. Carlisle and Esme are already hinting that they are ready for another grandbaby."

"Oh really. Got some news to share, Rose?" I asked smiling just as widely at her.

"We're trying."

"Really?"

"Yes. But we haven't told anyone yet. I had a hard time getting pregnant with Lily so we're keeping it to ourselves for now."

"My lips are sealed," I promised as we headed back to my room to find the guys. We hadn't seen Emmett since we'd left him on the deck and assumed he had found his way back to aggravate his brother some more.

"Are you done primping yet, Cullen? Your soon-to-be wife and I are hungry and we still have a two hour drive to Seattle. Knowing your sister, she is tapping her foot wondering where the hell we are."

We were all going to Seattle for the weekend. Rose's parents were keeping Lily for the next couple of days so Carlisle and Esme could take us all out to dinner tonight and then tomorrow night, Edward and I were being taken out separately for our bachelor and bachelorette parties. I didn't know which one of us I was more scared for. There was no telling what either the guys or the girls would do.

***X*X*X*X***

Three hours later, we had checked into our hotel, dropped off our luggage and had met up with Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Jasper at the restaurant Esme had chosen.

As we entered Amore Infused, I took in the beautiful romantic and classy atmosphere of the restaurant. The lighting was low creating a warm glow to the room and the windows were covered in soft billowing white shears that were pulled back to give you a view of the city outside and each table had a single red rose in a vase for a touch of simple romantic elegance.

As we followed the hostess to our table, I noticed that the restaurant was divided into two separate areas. There was the dining area that was what you'd expect to find in a classy place like this, but there was also a separate theater area where live music and entertainment was performed.

You could hear the soft jazz notes of the tune currently being played, as they floated into the dining section of the restaurant.

Our waitress brought water for all of us and looked around the table as she introduced herself while handing out menus. She looked a little flushed and dazed as she excused herself to give us a few minutes to decide on what we wanted to order and I could have sworn I saw her shake her head slightly as she walked away.

"What's so funny?" I asked Alice and Rose as they tried to hide their giggles.

"Well, partly the look on your face, the fact you are completely oblivious and the rest is the waitress's reaction. It happens all the time," Alice said through the giggles she was still trying to contain.

"Well she just looked so…I don't know…dazed I guess you'd say. But what do you mean I am completely obvious? To what?" I asked as I picked up my glass and took a sip of water.

"Edward, you really should take Bella out more often. And not to just those small little restaurants in Port Angeles," Rose suggested.

"Bella and I actually enjoy staying home and cooking together. We go out from time to time. We just prefer staying in or if we're in Forks, we'll head to the lake for a picnic." He took a drink of his own water before twisting his lips into a lopsided smirk. He then winked and teased his sister-in-law by saying, "Not all of us get to live the glamorous life of being married to a major league baseball player."

"It's a tough job, but someone has to do it," she replied with a smirk of her own, knowing he was teasing her.

"Would someone please clue me in?" I asked still not understanding what they obviously did. _Just what the hell was it that I was oblivious to and why did it matter how often Edward and I went out to dinner and where?_

"Sweetheart," Esme said as she patted my hand. "I think what the girls are referring to is the fact that we are sitting at a table with four extremely handsome men. They tend to catch the eye of women all around them by themselves. But when you put all four of them together well…certainly you can see where it would be a bit overwhelming."

"Oh," I answered as I began to process what she'd said. "_Ohhh,"_ I then said as it suddenly clicked in my head. I unintentionally let out a snort and found myself giggling just as Alice and Rose had been.

I quickly covered my mouth and stifled my giggles as I noticed the waitress heading back to our table. Edward leaned over and kissed my temple lightly and rested his arm on the back of my chair, while his thumb brushed back and forth across my shoulder.

"Do you know what you want to order?" he asked.

"Yes."

Before I could say anything else, the waitress had arrived at our table. She took our orders and then left after refilling our water. Carlisle had ordered a bottle of wine which was served just before our meal arrived.

While eating our dinner, we made light conversation that drifted from my and Edward's upcoming wedding to the next baseball season and various other topics.

Stuffed from our dinner, Edward and I opted to share a piece of apple pie with a large dollop of ice cream on top for dessert.

As Edward slipped the last bite into my mouth, he waited for me to be finished. "What do you say we go dance? It's been far too long since I've held you in my arms."

The others had already made their way into the other section of the restaurant to dance, claiming that Edward and me were taking too long because we were too busy making googly eyes at one another as we fed each other the tasty treat.

_Maybe it wasn't just the warm slice of pie that was causing the ice cream to melt. _

I leaned over and kissed him sweetly. "I'd love to, but you might literally have to hold me up. I ate way too much food."

"Small price to pay for having you in my arms, Love."

Edward stood and held his hand out for me to take. Once I did we joined the others.

We walked hand in hand to the dance floor, where he raised our arms that were connected by our hands up over my head and spun me before pulling me into his arms.

We danced slowly, swaying in time with the music for the rest of the song and through the next one.

"I love you," Edward whispered, leaning in to place a soft kiss next to my ear.

"Huh. Oh love you too."

"What were you daydreaming about, Love?" he asked. "You never hesitate when telling me you love me."

"Sorry. I really do love you. I was just lost in my thoughts."

"I know you love me. You okay?" His hand skimmed up my back and across my shoulder until he was gently cupping my face and caressing the apple of my cheek with his thumb.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if now would be an appropriate time to ask your dad that question we talked about the other night. I'm kinda running out of time with our wedding only being a week away."

"It's almost here. I can't wait."

He leaned down and kissed me softly, languidly, but the emotions he conveyed through the kiss were so powerful it left me feeling breathless and almost as if I was drunk. But feeling as though I was drunk from his kisses was one of the best feelings in the world. There was no alcohol in the world that could compete.

I smiled widely as I gazed into his eyes and slid my hand up his chest to pull him back to me for another kiss. "Me either."

"I think it's fine if you want to ask him now. How about I go steal my mother from him and give you a chance to talk to him?"

"Sounds like a plan."

He spun me around quickly causing me to giggle as he led us in the direction of his parents.

Once we were swaying back and forth next to them, Edward leaned closer to and asked, "Dad, any chance you might let me have a dance with my beautiful mother?"

Carlisle twisted his lips into a smirk that reminded me so much of the one I loved on Edward. Only Carlisle's wasn't off kilter and lopsided like Edward's.

Carlisle looked down at his lovely wife and said, "I think he wants something."

"I think you're right. He's buttering us up for something," she replied.

Carlisle then swirled his wife and took a few steps away from us as if they were trying to get away. Edward chuckled and turned us to follow them.

"Can't a guy, who is her favorite son by the way, just want to dance with his mom?"

"No," they both chimed at the same time with smiles on their faces. They were enjoying this way too much.

"And you know neither of us have any favorites among our children. So what do you want?" Esme added, playfully scolding her son.

Edward glanced down at me and then placed his right hand flat on his chest, over his heart, as if he were about to take some sort of solemn oath. "Me?" I saw his eyes quickly dart back down to me again. "I don't want anything more than to dance with my beautiful mother."

His parents must have gotten Mr. Not-so-subtle's hint since Carlisle then kissed his wife on the cheek and passed her to her son, teasing, "Don't step on your mother's toes."

A cross between a giggle and a snort shot out of me as I remembered Esme trying to give a younger Edward dance lessons. It had been shortly after they had moved to Forks. Alice and I had been coming down the stairs from her room, and had stopped on the stairs and watched when we'd seen the two of them. Alice and I had been forced to keep our hands clamped tightly over our mouths in order to smother the bursts of laughter we were struggling to hide at the sight. He had stepped on her toes many times. Given the fact Edward was seventeen at the time, her toes had been left a bit bruised and battered by his oversized feet.

Remembering that day made me briefly remember the jealousy I'd felt a couple of weeks later when Alice and I had sat in nearly the same spot on the stairs and had watched Edward and Jasper both escort two blonds whose names I now couldn't remember to the homecoming dance. I smiled to myself knowing it didn't matter anymore. He was mine and in just a few days we'd be permanently tied to each other for the rest of our lives. And that thought reminded me of why I was now dancing with my future father-in-law.

"Thank you for this wonderful evening, Carlisle," I said to him, trying to break the ice and get to the question I needed to ask him.

"You are quite welcome, dear. I hope you know how thrilled Esme and I are for you and Edward." I nodded letting him know that I did know how happy they were for us. They had gone above and beyond to show their support for us. "How are you dealing with your mother's decision to attend?" Carlisle asked next asked.

"Confused and anxious mostly. She said in the letter she sent that she's changed, she's realized her mistakes, and is sorry. But it's only been a few months. I find it hard to understand how she could have had such a tremendous change of heart in such a short time. I just can't imagine what could have happened to make her see her mistakes."

"It must be very difficult for you. I can see that you want what she says to be true, but yet you're terribly afraid to trust her and open yourself up to being hurt by her again if you do."

"That's pretty much exactly it. She said some horrible things before she left and it's hard to believe she doesn't feel that way anymore," I explained.

"Just remember what I said before. Esme and I are here for you. You might not officially be a Cullen yet, but we already think of you as one of our own. We'll do anything we can to help."

"Thank you. I do know that. Edward and I both do. In fact that's…um… sorta why Edward asked to dance with Esme. I um…need a favor."

"Sure. Just tell me what it is and I'll help in any way I can."

"I, well, I…" I paused and chewed on my lip for a minute thinking how to best phrase my question. It wasn't that I was scared or nervous to ask him what I needed to, it was just hard for me because it made me miss my father so very much.

However Carlisle must have taken it as a sign of nerves because before I could utter another word he was asking me, "Bella, is everything ok? Are you pregnant? Do you need me to refer you to an obstetrician? I can understand how it might be difficult for me to be your doctor."

"No, no, it's nothing like that," I assured him, wishing I could bury my face in his chest and hide because I was certain I was as red as the Santa suit Edward had donned last Christmas. "I mean we want kids, just not yet." I remembered Rose's words from earlier and didn't want him or Esme to think that I didn't want to have children with Edward and I guess given he was an obstetrician it made sense that he would think that was why I needed to talk to him.

"That's okay. I think the two of you need some time for your selves first. You've been through a lot. Now why don't you take a deep breath, relax and then tell me what it is you need," he suggested in a warm fatherly voice.

I did exactly as he said and then blew out the long breath I had sucked in. "I know that you and Esme used to be really close to my parents before…well…before. So…I was um…wondering," I paused again and took another long breath to steady my emotions. "I was wondering if you'd walk me down the aisle and give me away? You know…since my dad can't." The last few words had come out just barely more than a whisper. I hadn't missed my father so much in a very long time as I did right now.

"Sweetheart," Carlisle stated softly as he stilled our motion on the dance floor. "I'd be honored to walk you down the aisle and give you away." He then hugged me tightly and next thing I knew I felt Edward's arms pulling me to close to him. It shouldn't surprise me that he'd know I'd need him after talking to his father and that he'd be right there for me. In his arms was where I always wanted to be. It was my most favorite place in the world.

**I can't wait to hear what all of you think about this chapter. I have to admit I am a bit nervous given the hate that has flowed so freely for Renee. Not that she didn't deserve it, because she did. Still, I am anxious to hear all your thoughts. **

**There are pictures on my blog of Edward and Bella's new house as well as what all the ladies wore for their dinner in Seattle. I hope all of you have a very, very safe and Happy New Year!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**EA**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, everyone! TGIF! I must say that I have really awesome readers. I was blown away by your response to Renee's turn around how understanding you were. I had been worried that you guys were going to send the lynch mob after me, but instead you all got exactly why I chose to have her redeem herself. You deserve an Oscar for best readers! **

**Now who is ready for some bachelor/bachelorette party fun? **

**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer:**

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original aspects of this story—all original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted**_**. Unauthorized**__** use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms— it's theft.**_** I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise mentioned in this story. And of course just in case that doesn't cover it, Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended. **

**~*Edward*~**

**December 17, 2011**

"Do we really have to go?" I asked Bella as I trapped her against the wall of our hotel room and nuzzled my face against her neck. I began trailing kisses along her neck and bare shoulder. I could feel her breaths quicken. "Mmm, I really like this color of blue on you."

"More than purple?"

"No. Purple will always be my favorite color on you. Are you sure we can't all just go out together? Or stay here so I can peel you out of these clothes?"

"While the thought is very enticing—" Her words cut off as I licked up the column of her neck causing her to shiver. After a moment she was finally able to finish, "Your brother and Jasper want a boys' night out with you. Is that so wrong?" Her voice was breathy and soft as I continued my assault on her bare skin.

"No." I sighed and pulled away after placing one last kiss in the shallow dip where her neck and shoulder met. "The three of us haven't had much time together lately. Everyone has been so busy."

"But I might agree to a compromise," she offered as she grabbed the belt loop of my jeans and pulled me back to her.

"What sort of compromise?"

"I'm willing to face the wrath of your sister and stay in and let you have your wicked way with me if you tell me where you're taking me for our honeymoon." My gorgeous fiancée had a fake pout on her face and a mischievous glint in her eyes. If it were anything other than the destination of our honeymoon she had been asking for, I would have caved to her attempts to seduce me into telling her. However she was going to have to accept defeat this one time because I was not caving.

"That's an intriguing idea, Miss Swan. However, it's not going to work."

Bella had been begging me to tell her where we were going as soon as she had found out I'd chosen the location. It had taken me a while given we had to stay someplace close. I had plenty of time off since the school district was closed for Christmas break, but Bella hadn't been at her job a full year yet so she hadn't accrued any vacation time. While her boss understood and was willing to give her a couple of days off, a whole week was out of the question right now.

So in order to maximize the time we had I had chosen someplace close. Crescent City, California to be exact. I had reserved us a private cabin that would be fully stocked with anything we'd need during our stay. We could hike through the amazing giant red wood forest, walk along the beach, take a boat out on the water, visit the lighthouse or sit and watch the sunset from the coast. But most importantly we could just relax and be together.

"Well then I guess you will have to wait until later to peel me out of these clothes," she said with a fake pout on her face. "Besides, it's only a few hours and we're all meeting up later. So go have some fun and then I'll make it up to ya when we get back here tonight."

Bella rose up on her toes and pulled me even closer to her with the hold she still had on my pants and with her other hand that was now knotted in the back of my hair. She then kissed me hard, leaving no doubt in my mind about what she meant when she said she'd make it up to me.

_Not that I didn't already know, but I did love it when Bella took the initiative and was a little more aggressive. _

When she pulled away, she let her body slide down the front of mine and as she began to walk away, she looked over her shoulder and flashed me a sexy grin and winked at me playfully.

_Damn it was going to be fun to see what she was like tonight after a night out drinking. _

A short time later we met everyone down in the hotel lobby. I could see by the looks on both Emmett and Jasper's faces as they took in the magnificent sight of our drop dead gorgeous women, they were thinking something similar to what I was. _Maybe we should follow our women around tonight after all. They were too damn sexy and gorgeous for their own good. And that was when they weren't dressed to kill like they were tonight. _

The only man of the four of us that looked completely at ease was my father. Not that my mother wasn't gorgeous herself, but she was dressed much more modestly than the three other women, but I guessed when you had been married as long as they had you just gained a certain amount of confidence and ease in just about any situation. When my parents had agreed to us making this a full weekend trip so we could enjoy a night out, they did so with the stipulation that they be allowed to go along as our designated drivers.

I was quick to accept their offer knowing that the girls wouldn't mind having my mother along and that my father could be helpful in keeping Emmett from getting out of hand. Even when my father had informed me that he'd arranged a limo for the women, I knew the idea of having a designated driver was also the responsible thing for us guys to do since I knew there was a huge possibility of a large amount of alcohol being consumed.

"Alright, the lucky couple has finally arrived," Emmett cheered while clapping his hands together and then rubbing them in anticipation of our night out. "Let's get this party started," he added.

Bella walked over to Jasper after we greeted my parents. She poked him in the chest and said, "You see that overgrown gorilla over there?" She removed her finger from his chest and pointed it at Emmett.

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

"While completely cute and loveable—"

"That's me," my brother interjected proudly.

Bella shook her head and rolled her eyes at him and then continued, "He is trouble with a capital 'T'. You _are_ Edward's best man correct?"

Jasper nodded not quite sure what my lovely fiancée was getting at, but certain he was probably much better off to agree with her than not to.

"That means you are responsible for him. To make sure he doesn't get in any kind of trouble tonight because of that one over there." She pointed at Emmett again while the rest of us struggled to keep from laughing at the surprised look on my brother's face. Bella then looked back at Jasper and continued. "That also means I am holding you responsible for making sure Edward comes back to me with not a hair on his head injured. I'm putting my trust in _you_ as his best friend and as his best man. I am holding you personally responsible for him tonight. Think you can handle that?"

By this time we were all giggling except for Bella, Jasper and Emmett. Although I could see Jasper's lips twitching as they fought to keep from grinning. Emmett on the other hand looked like someone had told him he had to stay home and not have any fun.

Jasper placed his hands on Bella's shoulders and looked her right in the eye. "Darlin', I promise to bring your betrothed back to you just as spiffy as he is right now. Albeit a bit more intoxicated… well, actually probably a whole lot more intoxicated, but unharmed."

"Good. I knew I could count on you," she said as she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Just remember, your wife is my best friend. I'd hate to have to go through her for your punishment."

She then turned and stepped closer to me and slid her arm around my waist. _God how I loved her. She was truly amazing and I was one hell of a lucky man to have her to share my life with._

***X*X*X*X***

"Do you have any clue where the hell this place is, Emmett?" I swear it felt as if we'd been driving in circles for nearly an hour now. "Why can't we just go find a bar and throw back a few beers?"

"This is your last time out as a single guy, Eddie my boy. Just any old bar won't cut it," he replied with a smirk on his face I didn't like. My brother was up to something and Jasper was being uncharacteristically quiet. Which meant, despite his warning from Bella, he was in on whatever it was Emmett had planned.

Finally Emmett found what he was looking for; a strip in downtown Seattle that had several bars and clubs scattered about. The area was alive with activity and flowing with people. Emmett informed us that the place he'd heard about from some of his teammates didn't open until nine, so we had a couple of hours to kill. We found a spot to park and then walked around the corner to our first stop.

Time went by much faster than we'd realized and before we knew it two hours had gone by and we'd popped in and out of three bars, tossing back a few beers and playing a few games of darts. Since the bars were all within a couple blocks from where we parked, it was easy to make it back to the car when Emmett saw the time and was ready to head to the place he had heard about.

Because everyone except my father had begun to drink, he was now behind the wheel as we made our way to the next bar.

"Yeah baby," Emmett called out as we pulled up in front of the place. "Now _here _is where we are gonna have some fun!"

I looked out the car window and sighed. I had heard about this place. It was supposed to be crawling with half dressed women and waitresses that hopped up on your table or the bar and danced in front of you.

"Shit, Emmett. Why can't we just hit the regular bar scene and shoot some pool or something?"

He reached up from where he was sitting in the back seat and clamped his huge paw of hand on my shoulder and said, "Look, dude, this is your last weekend as a bachelor. It's your night to live it up. You're only going to have one last night out as a bachelor, right?"

"What the fuck, Em? What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm only going to have one. I plan to spend the rest of my life with Bella. But I don't need some half naked bar girl dancing and hanging all over me."

"Come on, Bro. Just because there are half naked chicks in the place doesn't mean you have to hang on them or let them hang on you. Jesus, dude. Lighten up and have a good time. You can look at the eye candy if you want, or don't. I just want you to have a good time. You think I would risk my life with Rosie for one of those barflies?"

"Fine. Point made," I conceded.

There was a line about half a block long, and more people walking up to add to it, so Dad dropped us off and drove around the corner to park.

The line moved much faster than we'd thought it would and after about fifteen minutes we were inside. It was really crowded and there was still a line behind us waiting to get in at least as long as the one we had waited in. _Place must be very popular._

We made our way through the throngs of dancing people and found an empty booth. A waitress came over to take our order and it was impossible not to look at her in the getup she was dressed in. She had on a black, mostly lace, halter top along with black and white cow patch patterned chaps that were held on by a wide black leather belt and a cowboy hat and boots.

"Hi, y'all. I'm Stacey, welcome to Cowgirls. What can I get for you tonight?" Her fake southern accent was horrible and I caught Jasper smirking while rolling his eyes at her. Having moved to Washington from Texas a couple of years before we had, he always found it quite humorous to watch others try to impersonate the twang he could slip into as if he'd never left Texas.

We ordered a round of beers for everyone except for my dad who got a club soda with lime. Of course Emmett being the bottomless pit that he was had to order a tray of appetizers too.

"What? We're celebrating. If I'm gonna be drinking all night I have to keep some food in me too."

We all just shook our heads and laughed. But his comment about celebrating wasn't missed by the waitress.

"What would y'all be celebrating tonight?" she asked.

"Well, ya see," Emmett grinned widely and smacked his hand down on my shoulder. "My baby brother here is getting married next weekend. So this is his last night out with the guys as a bachelor."

"Ya don't say?" she stated. She was still trying to pull off that southern drawl.

"Yes it's true. I'm marrying the love of my life next weekend," I told her confirming what Emmett had said.

"Well what a lucky woman she is," she said with a flirtatious wink. "Congratulations."

She left after that and returned a few minutes later with our drinks.

"Damn," Emmett exclaimed as she turned to leave again while at the same time Jasper went all bug eyed.

"What?" I asked.

Emmett, who had been just about to take a swig of his beer, tipped the end of his bottle in the direction our waitress had gone.

I immediately knew what he had been all worked up over. He hadn't noticed the first time she had been to our booth, but this time Emmett had not missed that fact that under her chaps the waitress was only wearing a pair of black boy shorts that were shorter than any I'd seen Bella wear to bed. They left absolutely nothing to the imagination and barely covered her ass.

I was about to let out a huge sigh of relief that she hadn't made some big production out of why we were celebrating, when our attention was called to the center of the dance floor. We saw several of the waitresses slash bar dancers standing around an empty chair and one of the girls was swinging a piece of rope in her hand.

"Howdy, y'all," crooned another one of the girls into a microphone. "We'd like to welcome you to Cowgirls this evening and let you know that we have a special guest here with us tonight."

Loud whistles and cat calls echoed throughout the establishment as two of the girls walked like cats on a prowl over to our table. They were dressed in even less than our waitress had been, wearing black leather short shorts, matching bikini tops, cowboy boots and hat.

"We heard that one of you handsome men was celebrating a special night," one of them said.

"That would be this guy right here," Emmett offered as he gave me a light shove.

"Thanks," I muttered snidely to him for outing me.

"Well we'd like to make your last night out as a bachelor one to remember so we have a little treat for you. All you have to do is sit in that chair right over there," she told me while pointing to the chair in the center of the dance floor.

"That's okay. I appreciate it, but it's really not necessary." There was no way in hell I was sitting in that chair without knowing what the hell they were going to do.

"Awe, come on." She flashed me a wide smile, but there was only one woman's smile that could get to me and she wasn't here right now. "What did you say your name was?" the girl asked.

"I didn't."

"Edward. His name is Edward," Jasper offered with a shit-eating grin on his face. "And he'd love for you to give him a treat."

I glared at Jasper briefly and was about to excuse myself to the restroom to get away from the situation. However before I could really grasp what was happening, my brother was pushing on me as the two girls were tugging on my hands and pulling me out of the booth.

"Awe, folks, it looks like our guest is resisting. Maybe you could give us a hand in getting him out here on the dance floor," the girl with the microphone announced. "What's his name, Kate?"

"Edward," the blond who was pulling me along hollered.

"Okay, guys and gals, let's hear how bad you want Edward to come up here with us."

The whole bar erupted in cheers, chants and applause, encouraging me to participate and weren't really leaving me much choice but to do so without looking like a complete idiot.

"Okay, okay," I said while holding my hands up in surrender.

Reluctantly I sat on the chair and silently prayed that whatever it was they were about to do wasn't too off the wall.

"I don't know, guys and gals," she called out while swirling a lasso in the air. "He still doesn't look too thrilled to be up here. I'm thinking he might be one of those who will try to get away. Maybe we should rope us a stud. Whatcha think?"

Loud chants and cheers filled the air and I wasn't surprised when I could hear Emmett's loud mouth above them all.

She flung the rope and it settled over my upper body perfectly. As she pulled the end she still held in her hands, the loop tightened around me holding me to the chair. "He's a real looker, this one, isn't he ladies?"

Cheers from all the women echoed while the men in the bar booed. I kept my eyes on her and shook my head, knowing that somehow some way I was going to pay my brother and best friend back for this.

"Tell us, Edward, what brings you here tonight? What is it that you are celebrating?" she asked holding the microphone down so I could speak into it.

"I'm getting married next weekend."

"You hear that, ladies? Edward here is getting married next weekend. Sorry all you single gals, it looks like our stud here is already spoken for."

Next thing I knew another rope was lassoed around me and the two girls started walking in opposite directions around the chair, winding the rope around me.

"Wait. What the hell!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, settle down there, honey. We just want to show ya a little fun before you go off and get yourself a Mrs."

I could feel them tugging the rope as they knotted it. Next about six girls lined up in front of me and the loud thundering beats of Joan Jett's_ Do Ya Wanna Touch Me_ began to pound through the bar's sound system.

They began their dance, shaking their hips, smacking their asses and stomping their feet to the beat of the music as they gradually got closer to me.

About halfway through the song, I found myself surrounded by the women as they took turns shaking various parts of their body in my face. Now, I'm a guy and I can appreciate a pretty woman when I see one. Problem was I hardly noticed them because for me there wasn't one who could hold a candle to Bella. When they began to brush their asses across my lap and run their hands up my chest and through my hair, it felt really wrong. If it were Bella doing these things, I'd be all for it. Hell, I'd be more than all for it. I'd be all over her faster than these girls could shake their asses. However just because I was a man didn't mean that I could be aroused by any woman. The fact of the matter was that it was more annoying than anything. Only Bella could ever affect me behaving like these women were.

Wishing the song would hurry up and end, I groaned and threw my head back wishing the song would just end already. _Was this some sort of extended version or something? _My response turned out to be a huge mistake, as the girl who was currently rubbing her ass across my thigh took my reaction the wrong way and she ground herself even harder on my leg.

_Emmett was so going to fucking pay for this._

In an attempt to stay in my own world and wait the song out I closed my eyes and tried to picture Bella in an outfit like the ones these girls were wearing but that only made my situation worse. As my mind conjured up the images of her, my body started to react and that was the last thing I needed right now.

"Fuck," I cursed to myself.

Fortunately a few moments later the song finally ended. I was up and out of the chair as soon as the ropes were off me. It had only taken them a few seconds to untie them, but it felt a lot longer to me.

Everyone was cheering and whistling again as I got up to head back to our table. I just gave them a quick wave and focused on getting off that damn dance floor.

"Dude, that was fucking epic," Emmett yelled. He held out his fist for me to bump it, but I just placed my hand over it and shoved it out of the way.

"I don't know when, I don't know how, but I promise you, Emmett, I will get even with you for that shit."

Jasper snorted and nearly choked on his beer while doing so. But I set him straight too. "That goes for you too, Mr. Edward, his name is Edward."

My father was just sitting there with a smirk on his face like he was struggling not to bust a gut laughing.

"Oh I guess you find this humorous too?" I asked him as I tipped my beer back and chugged almost the whole thing in one swig.

"You really should have seen the look on your face. It was a look I'll never forget. It was some weird cross between you being mortified, shocked and at one point maybe even a little excited," he said.

"Oh totally, bro. I'd give an entire paycheck to know what was going through your head when that one chick was grinding on your leg and your head fell back," Emmett added.

"A whole paycheck? Really?"

"Okay, so maybe not a whole paycheck. Rose would have my ass for that. But I'd still like to know."

"I was thinking about Bella in one of those outfits," I said so fast, running the words together and hoping he hadn't caught it before I brought my bottle of beer back to my mouth.

"No shit?" Jasper asked apparently hearing every word. "I bet Alice could get her one with the connections she's got."

"Really?" I asked actually considering it for a second as I chugged the rest of my beer. I set the empty beer bottle on the table and raised my hand to the waitress for another.

"Yeah. You should see some of the shit she has special ordered for people. If she can't get the exact thing, I'm damn sure she could get something similar."

"Nah. It's a nice thought, but Bella would probably never go for it. Besides she doesn't need that kind of shit to turn me on. She does it perfectly all on her own."

"Just saying. If you change your mind let me know," he said before finishing off his own beer.

We drank a couple more beers and finished off the huge plate of wings Emmett had ordered before deciding to go play a game of pool. However on the way to the pool tables, we discovered they had a mechanical bull and Emmett decided that a game of pool wasn't exciting enough for him anymore.

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure, Eddie? You used to be way more fun than this when we were kids."

"That's just it, Em, we were kids."

"Just as well, I'd probably kick both your asses anyways," Jasper chimed in.

We continued past the bull to the pool tables.

Three beers and a game and a half of pool later, along with several jabs from Jasper about how being from Texas he could show us how it's done in his sleep, I gave in. "Alright fine," I huffed and laid my pool stick down on the table.

"You quitting, dude?" Emmett asked.

"No. Jasper isn't going to shut the fuck up unless we put our asses on that bull, so let's get the shit done."

"Holy shit, I never knew all it took was getting you liquored up a little to pull that stick out of your ass, Edward," Jasper declared.

We reset the pool table for the next round of players and made our way over to the bull.

"Dad, you going to give this thing a go?" I asked partly joking, but partly curious if he'd give it a try. He was completely sober so he had that much going for him, whereas we'd each had at least five or six beers at this point.

"No," he answered and I knew by the unwavering tone of his voice there was no changing his mind. "I think I'll have a lot more fun watching the three of you. Besides, if one of you breaks your neck, I have to be able to put your ass back together."

"Alright, kiddies. Let's make this a bit more interesting," Emmett suggested as he waved for the waitress to come over to where we were.

"Just what are you proposing?" Jasper asked.

"We'll go in rounds. Loser is whoever stays on the shortest amount of time at the end of each round."

"Okay," I agreed. There didn't seem to be any harm in that.

"What's the catch?" Jasper asked.

"Loser has to take a shot of tequila."

"Just one?" I asked.

"Yup. Just one," Emmett confirmed. "You in?"

"Yeah, I'm in. Jazz?"

"Hells yes, I'm in," he drawled, turning on the southern accent as easy as flipping a light switch.

"Hold up now," my father said as the waitress stood waiting for us to give her our order. "You guys can't do many shots of tequila and walk your asses out of here. And I sure as shit can't carry you out. I suggest you change that to something a little less lethal. How about rum instead?"

"Rum it is," I told the waitress. She asked how many shots and we told her to bring six to start. We figured that was two each if it worked out evenly. Although I was certain that wouldn't be the case.

"Alrighty now. Here we go! What's that saying from that one rodeo movie we saw?" Emmett asked while rubbing his hands together like a little kid about to hit the jackpot in a candy store.

"Which one? Jasper has made us watch so many over the years."

"Oh I got it now," Emmett said. "It's guts and love and glory, one mortal's chance at fame. His legacy is rodeo, cowboy is his _name_!"

"Yee haw," Jasper crooned as he stepped up to the bull to go first.

About an hour had gone by and we were all pretty even. We'd all taken two shots each with the exception of Emmett who had downed three. But with him having more body mass than either Jasper or I had, we were still pretty evenly intoxicated.

With time running out before the bar closed and getting closer to when we were supposed to meet up with the girls, in our inebriated states we began taunting each other to cause whichever one of us was on the bull to lose his concentration and fall off.

It started when I was on the bull. Emmett was talking trash and making comments to distract me, I was able to tune him out for the most part until he said I should pretend the bull was my bride on my wedding night. I was somehow able to flip him off and keep my balance on the bull until the buzzer went off signaling I had stayed on for the full three minutes. I won that round and Emmett was the one who had stayed on the shortest amount of time so he had to take the shot of rum.

We started our last round—my dad said we had just about reached our level of intoxication to be able to walk out on our own. We had somehow evened up again, but Emmett was determined to win. He was able to get Jasper to fall off when he acted like he was going to moon him. But what had actually caused Jasper to fall off was the giant pair of red lips that was on the back of Emmett's boxers with the words 'kiss me'. Jasper had lost it and rolled onto the floor laughing his ass off.

I was up next. I was doing good and keeping my balance until Emmett caught me off guard and distracted me when he yelled, "Well, well, well, Edward. It looks like the girls just walked in the door. Oh fuck, man, you should see the guy that's hitting on Bella."

My brother knew that some fool trying to hit on my girl would get me and sure enough I instantly turned my head and instead of focusing on the mechanical bull I was searching for Bella and lost my balance ending my time.

As Emmett prepared to get up on the bull for his final turn, Jasper came over to me and whispered in my ear, "Give me fifty bucks."

"What the hell for?" I asked him.

"You want to lose to Emmett or give him a dose of his own medicine?"

Without even answering him I pulled out my wallet and gave him the cash.

"Tell him to hold up until I get back."

I nodded and relayed the message to Emmett. I knew if Jasper's plan worked, it would give him the win, but that was far better than listening to my brother gloat for the rest of his existence. He was just as much of a sore winner as he was a sore loser.

I sat down on a bar stool next to my dad and waited to see what my best friend was up to.

When we saw Jasper coming back Emmett climbed up on the bull. Once Jasper was sitting next to me on his own stool, Emmett pushed the button on the bull to start its movement.

I had seen two of the bar girls following a short distance behind Jasper as he made his way back over to us, but hadn't thought anything of it. That is until the two girls went over and stood right in Emmett's line of sight and started kissing and pretending to make out.

Jasper, my father and I laughed as we sat back and watched Emmett loose his concentration and fall off the bull. After sitting up and giving us an ear full of curse words, Emmett fell back to the padded floor under the bull and laughed at himself.

By the time Emmett pulled himself up off the floor, the bar was making the last call announcement. We were ready to leave and go find our women and see what they had been up to all night. While my dad took care of the tab we'd run up, despite us all insisting we'd chip in, Jasper sent Alice a text to find out where the girls were. We made a quick trip to the restroom on our way out of the bar and were then on our way.

**~*Bella*~**

We had just pulled away from the Space Needle where we'd had an amazing dinner. I was still trying to get over the fact that we were being driven around in a limo for the night when Alice shoved a pink box into my hands.

"What did you do, Alice?"

"Me? I didn't do anything. _We_ got you a little something to signify tonight's special occasion."

Alice could hardly contain her excitement as I opened the box and shoved the matching pink tissue paper aside to see what was underneath it. I was shocked she wasn't bouncing she was so wound up.

"We, huh?" I said to her while laughing, as I pulled the almost gaudy crown out of the box.

I glanced across from me where Rose was leaning forward so she could see what was in the box too. She very nonchalantly nodded her head in Alice's direction and winked confirming my suspicion that Alice was behind my gift.

"Isn't it perfect?" Alice squealed.

"It's um…it's cool, Alice." I just smiled brightly at her knowing there was no way I was going to get out of wearing it.

I looked at the shiny silver plastic tiara. It had the words 'Bride To Be' in glittery pink letters along with a few fake jewels adorning on the top of it. It totally screamed Alice. But I wouldn't begrudge her this one small indulgence tonight. She was my maid of honor and my best friend and even if the tiara was a bit ostentatious I knew it came from her heart.

"Here let me help you with it," she offered.

A few seconds later I was crowned and ready to have a great night out with my friends. The limo pulled up in front of a club I'd heard of but had never been to.

As the four of us entered Club Noc Noc I took in my surroundings. It appeared to be a hip popular place from the size of the crowd. To our left was the bar area of the club which was lined on one side by a long bar with a row of bar stools at it and the other side was filled with booths that had high backed benches for privacy. To our right was an open dance floor with more tables along the walls and a stage at the very back.

The club was decorated in a sort of modern Goth look with sconces and gothic arched frames on the walls along with various types of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to add to the ambiance of the space.

There wasn't an empty booth or table so Esme and I sat at the bar while Rose and Alice visited the powder room. Esme ordered a round of Long Island Teas for all of us when the bartender came down our way.

Much more accustomed to going out to clubs, Alice and Rose had downed their drinks in the same amount of time I'd barely finished half of mine. They set their empty glasses on the bar and were immediately dragging me out on the dance floor.

After we danced through a couple of songs I noticed an empty table. I pointed it out to the girls and we quickly retrieved our purses and jackets from the bar where Esme had been sitting with them and claimed the table before someone else took it. We'd tried to get Esme to dance with us, but she insisted she was just along for the fun of watching us have a great time.

By the time I finished my second drink I was in need of a bathroom break. I was heading back to the table when this guy who had been walking in front of me just stopped out of nowhere causing me to run right into the back of him.

He turned around and I was about to apologize to him, even thought it was really his fault, when he looked down at me and smiled like I was the best thing he had ever laid eyes on and said, "Well hello there. Either I'm lost or this is heaven and you're an angel sent to watch over me."

I rolled my eyes at him while muttering, "You must be extremely lost," and walked right past him without bothering to apologize for running into him.

I was shaking my head still when I got back to our table.

"What's that look on your face for?" Alice asked.

I couldn't help laughing as I started to tell them. "You remember all those cheesy pickup lines guys used to use when we were in high school?"

"Oh no. Not you too!" Rose exclaimed.

"What do you mean not me too?" I asked her.

"When Alice and I went to the ladies room right after we got here, I was waiting just outside the door for her since it's kind of cramped in there. Well this guy comes up to me and says, "Do you have a mirror in your pocket, 'cause I can see myself inside your pants."

"No!" I replied while trying not to spit out the drink I had just taken.

"Oh yes, he did," Rose told us.

"What did you say to him?" I just had to know what kind of comeback Rose had for this guy.

"I told him the only place he was going to see himself was looking at the bottom of my shoe after I kicked the shit out of him."

"Did that scare him off?" Esme asked.

"Hell no, he then tried to hit on me further by telling me he liked his women feisty," Rose explained. "I was glad Alice came out of the ladies room right after that, because if he had said anything else to me I was sure he was going to find my foot firmly planted in his family jewels

Having no doubt whatsoever that she'd do exactly that, I couldn't help snickering at the vision I saw in my head before I said to her, "Damn, Rose you could cause some serious damage with those heels, girl."

She took a sip of her drink and with a devious smile on her face replied, "Four and half inch heels, not just for decoration anymore." We all busted out laughing at that.

"What did the guy you saw say to you?" Alice asked while trying not to laugh some more.

I told them what he'd said to me and we were all laughing again. What was even funnier was when Alice and Esme told us that he had apparently tried one of his cheesy lines on them as well. He had sat next to Esme at the bar when the three of us had been dancing and told her he was a thief and there to steal her heart and had tried that old if I told you, you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me line on Alice. And after we described him we were all certain it was indeed the same guy.

"You know I almost feel bad for this poor guy," Esme added. "He's hit on all of us with his silly lines and he appears to truly believe that they will work for him."

"God, I hope there isn't anyone who would actually fall for one of them," Alice said and then shivered as if it gave her the creeps just thinking about it.

We spent the next hour or so dancing and chatting at the table enjoying ourselves. I had been a little worried about what Alice and Rose may have had up their sleeves for tonight, but if dinner, dancing and tossing back a few drinks was all they had planned then I was seriously relieved. I was having a great time, letting loose with my friends, although I did from time to time wonder what Edward and the guys were up to. I knew there was no telling when it came to Emmett.

A short time later the dance floor was cleared and the staff filled it with several chairs for the show that was being held. I hadn't been aware we were going to see a show but apparently Alice and Rose were. The Sinner Saint Burlesque Show was performing and for some reason Alice and Rose seemed to be just a little too excited about this. It piqued my curiosity and made me wonder if they were up to something after all.

The show began with the MC—Mr. Emper-ROAR-Fabulous—as he called himself, took the stage to get things going. Each of the girls was introduced. They went by names such as Miss Patty Cupcake, Polly Wood, and Ember Devine, to name a few.

They were dressed in sparkly, glittery, barely-there costumes, complete with boas, elbow length satin gloves and a couple of them were even wearing nothing more on top than nude colored bra type tops that appeared to be only pasties which had tassels dangling from them.

"It's a shame the guys aren't here," I said to them. "I bet they'd enjoy this as much as we are."

"If not more," Rose added with a smile that told me she knew Emmett would be all over something like this.

The show went on for about two hours. The girls were very talented and beautiful as they danced through a variety of routines that were everything from sexy and sensual to funny.

It was just a little past midnight when the show ended. When the MC announced that the bar would be closing a half hour early for a special private party I started to get up and grab my purse, but was pulled back down in my seat by Alice.

"Not so fast, girlfriend," she said to me. "Your night isn't over yet."

"Didn't you hear what they just said?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I not only heard it, but I'm the one who arranged it," she declared with a wide mischievous smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Alice," I said dragging her name out. "What are you up to?"

"Just a little private fun for the four of us and a private lesson in burlesque dancing for you," she stated plain as day like it was an everyday occurrence.

"A what?" I squeaked out as the bartender appeared at our table with a tray holding four shots of some sort of alcohol. He sat one in front of each of us and left.

"A private lesson. Loosen up, Bella, you can learn some new moves and then give Edward his own private dance on your wedding night," Rose retaliated.

I thought about what she'd said and decided that might be fun. Edward would certainly like it.

Rose must have noticed. She nudged Alice and pointed to me. "Look at her," she said with a snicker. "She's liking it now that we mentioned she should use what she learns on Edward."

Alice picked up her shot glass and raised it up in my direction indicating we should do the same.

"To Edward and Bella," she said in a toast. "We are all so very happy to have you back in our lives, Bella. But the happiness you have brought my brother is huge. It's written all over his face every time he looks at you and it's in the sparkle in his eyes when he talks about you."

Esme picked up right where Alice left off saying, "I couldn't ask for anyone better for Edward than you, Bella. I'm thrilled to be able to officially call you my daughter."

I felt the tears welling in my eyes when Rose added a bit of humor to lighten the moment. "And here's to Eddie not being such a grouch and crab-ass anymore. Welcome to the family, Bella."

We all raised our glasses and downed the shots.

"Holy shit," I blurted out. "What was that?"

"Tequila," Alice said.

"If I get sick, it's all on you, munchkin," I told her while calling her by the nickname Edward had given her years ago. "I've never had tequila before."

Alice and Rose laughed while Esme just shook her head at them.

"If that doesn't get her to loosen up, nothing will," Rose proclaimed.

I couldn't help it, I was having such a good time and we were all giggling like a bunch of school girls when one of the dancers came over and asked, "Who's the lucky bride to be here?"

I had taken my tiara off earlier in the night since it kept slipping off my head as I danced.

All three of them pointed at me while sporting wide smiles on their faces. The dancer introduced herself by her real name and told the others they were welcome to join us on the dance floor for my lesson if they wanted to take part and try out the moves too.

I was given my own hot pink boa and satin gloves to keep and the other dancers loaned Esme, Rose and Alice one of theirs to use.

I spent the next several minutes learning to gyrate my hips, kick my legs, and shimmy in ways I never thought possible. I was in the middle of trying to shimmy my way down in sort of a squatted position and back up again to the song _Lady Marmalade_ when I felt a pair of hands on my hips. I knew instantly who it was. There was only one man's hands that could make my whole body hum in excitement with his touch. So when he grasped me a bit more firmly and pulled me back against him, I didn't hesitate to swivel my hips against his groin, like I'd just been shown how to do.

I heard him moan and then felt his lips skimming across my shoulder to my ear. "It looks like you're having a good time, baby."

"Mmm, I am," I responded while turning in his arms and wrapping my boa around his neck to pull him down to me for a kiss.

"Get a room!" Emmett hollered while someone else whistled loudly.

Edward and I broke apart and noticed everyone in the place was watching us. Not wanting to be a spectacle or a source of future jokes from Emmett, Edward leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I can't wait to get you back to our room and peel you out of these clothes like you promised."

Still breathless from our kiss, I nodded and then took a deep breath before turning to thank the dancers for our lesson. They congratulated Edward and me before we walked over to join the others who were standing by the table we had sat at all night. We all had a glass of champagne to toast to my and Edward's upcoming wedding and then Edward and I were shooed out the door into the waiting limo while Carlisle said he'd get everyone else back to the hotel in Emmett and Rose's SUV.

We made out in the limo like a couple of high school kids on prom night on our way back to the hotel. Once in our room, it didn't take long before our clothes were shed and we were lost in the tangled mess we became as we gave in to the fiery passion we spurred in one another. That was how we remained until the wee hours of the morning when we'd finally succumbed to exhaustion and drifted to sleep, still wrapped in each other's arms.

**Have any fun or embarrassing bachelor/bachelorette party stories? As always there are pictures on my blog to go with the chapter. **

**Up next we have Bella and Renee's talk and Edward and Bella's big day. After that only the epilogue will be left.  
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**Let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading!**

**EA**


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Friday the 13****th****, everyone! Are you superstitious? I'm not really, I guess growing up with a black cat and being fascinated with vampires and witches kinda ruined it for me. LOL But I did see something interesting on the news this morning. We have three Friday the 13ths this year. This one, one in April and again in July and all three of them are exactly 13 weeks apart. Interesting? Freaky? You decide. **

**Thank you My-Bella and Hope4more, for all the time you put into the edits and re-edits and for making sure I put all those annoying commas in all the right places. You both Rock!**

**Disclaimer:**

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

The original aspects of this story—all of the original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted_. __**Unauthorized use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms—it's theft. **_I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise mentioned in this story. _**No reproduction, downloading, copying, reposting, or any other kind of redistribution of this story or its contents is permitted without my express written authorization.**_

***~Bella~***

**December 22, 2011**

"You're awake early," Edward murmured against my skin as he trailed soft kisses along my neck from where he stood behind me while I poured myself another cup of coffee. I was on my third since sleeping hadn't come easy or had felt even remotely restful last night.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Mmm, I'm not surprised." He kissed the top of my head and moved around me to grab a cup from the cabinet.

"I just…I want so badly for what my mother has told me to be true, but I'm afraid to really believe that it can be."

I buried my face into my hands as I propped my elbows on the counter and let out a long sigh of frustration. Our wedding was in two days and my mother and her boyfriend Phil were arriving today. Their flight wouldn't be arriving until late this afternoon and then after checking into their hotel and freshening up they would be coming here to our house to have dinner with Edward and me. I still felt a little guilty for not offering them our guest room, but if things didn't go well with dinner, I wanted to have some distance between us. I didn't want to feel as though I was walking on egg shells in my own home and because my mother hadn't even hinted at staying here, I was hopeful she understood.

It might have seemed silly to some, but when my mother had first called with their travel plans, I asked her to arrive today instead of tomorrow. If for whatever reason things went badly, I didn't want it to happen at the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night in front of everyone and I certainly didn't want it casting any hint of a shadow over my and Edward's wedding. I had already told Edward that if things got rough tonight and she didn't appear to be sincere that I was going to ask her to leave and not bother to attend our wedding. Maybe it was selfish and childish of me but I refused to let her ruin my and Edward's day if her so called change of heart wasn't true. I was also aware that I was focused more on the negative possibilities than the positive ones, but it was my mother's own actions that had left me feeling very skeptical about whether or not she had really changed.

"You know you could still take my mother up on her offer to have dinner tonight at their house. On neutral ground," Edward suggested while sitting next to me at our breakfast bar.

Thinking about what he'd said and actually considering for a second how much easier it might be to take Esme up on her offer, I knew in my heart I couldn't. I had to face my mother head on and felt that this was the way to do it.

Rubbing my hands back and forth across my face a few times, I cradled my head in one hand so I was facing Edward. Raising my cup with the other to take a slow sip of my coffee, I pondered over my response. "I know I could, and I love that your mom offered, but it's really hardly neutral ground. If Renee isn't sincere and still has an issue with me marrying you, then your parents' house is only going to fuel her feelings. I think she'd feel trapped and ganged up on there if she has any plans to try and get me to back out at the last minute."

"And you're sure you want to do it here? Would you rather we go out to dinner? Do you think she'd be less likely to start an argument in public?" he asked while brushing my hair back out of my face and leaning over to give me a sweet reassuring kiss, letting me know he'd back whatever decision I made.

"No. You've seen my mother when she's on one of her tirades. I won't have her make a public spectacle of us either. I haven't seen her for months so I'm just not that confident that if she got worked up enough that she would behave even in a public setting. We both work in this town and neither of us needs to become the newest hot topic for the gossipers. They're almost as bad as the ones in Forks."

"Would be worse if old Mrs. Cope ever moved to Port Angeles," he added with a smirk.

"Isn't that the truth," I said with a snort and couldn't help smiling. Poor old Mrs. Cope really did think that she was offering the townspeople of Forks a valuable service by spreading everyone's business to whomever would let her chat their ear off.

"Made ya smile," he said softly, draping his arm around me and kissing me again.

"You always do," I told him.

"As long as you're sure, baby, then I'm fine with them coming here."

"I am. Besides I want her to see what we have. I want her to see how happy I am. See the home we've created for ourselves and that I'm not lacking for anything. That just because my idea of happy is different from hers it doesn't mean it's wrong. We have a beautiful home and an amazing life that is only going to get better. I love you and I love the life we have created for ourselves here. I refuse to let her undermine it ever again."

"And if she truly has changed?" Edward asked, quirking an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Then I am happy that she has. I want her to be happy and if she's changed I welcome her to be a part of our lives. It's still going to take some time for me to completely trust her again, and for our relationship to be anywhere near what it used to be. But it will be a start and truthfully that is all I am really hoping for."

"Okay," he agreed. "Just remember if at any time it becomes too much, I have no problem with throwing her out."

"My superhero," I sighed. "Always here to save the day."

"I'll show you super," he growled, pulling me off my stool and spinning it so he could trap me between his legs and the counter. "How about we go shower together? You know in the name of water conservation and all."

"I couldn't think of a better way to start the day." Without another word, coffee cups were left abandoned and we were racing down the stairs to our room.

***x*x*x*x***

"Dinner was fantastic, Bella," Renee said as she placed her napkin on the table and took a sip of her wine.

"I second that," Phil added.

So far things had gone pretty well. It was clear we were all a bit apprehensive, but I really didn't see any way around it. It was just one of those things that were going to require time to move past. My mother had seemed truly happy to be here, impressed with our house and excited about the wedding when we talked about it while showing them around the house after they had first arrived.

"Thank you," I replied.

"Phil, why don't I show you the deck and the view we have over into Canada?" Edward suggested, effectively ending the awkward silence that seemed to have overcome us all now that dinner was over. He knew that my mother and I needed some time alone to talk and by offering to show Phil around outside, it gave us the opportunity.

"Sure," Phil replied.

The two men got up and walked over to the door leading outside. I stood to start clearing the table of the dishes and looked up just in time to see Edward wink at me and mouth to me that he loved me on his way out the door. It was his way of letting me know that he would be right outside if I needed him.

"Let me help you," my mother offered.

I nodded and continued clearing the table.

Once the table was cleared and the leftover food put away, I set about loading the dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen. I knew we needed to talk, I wanted to talk, but just didn't know where or how to begin.

"You're just like your father, you know," my mother said as she leaned against the counter next to me.

"What do you mean?" I asked and glanced over at her while grabbing another dish to rinse before putting it in the dishwasher.

"Well when you have something on your mind and you're not ready to talk about it or you don't know how to talk about it, you become this hyperactive busy body as if you need to exert some physical energy to allow you to get your thoughts straight."

"Oh." Her observation surprised me at first, but as I thought about it, I could remember a few times when I had seen my father doing exactly as she'd said.

"Charlie used to clean his guns, rearrange things in the garage or organize his tackle box to busy his hands while his mind worked things out in its own way. I swear I had often wondered if he had his bait and tackle arranged in alphabetical order in that old tool box he kept it all in. And you're doing the same thing now."

I smiled remembering that old tool box. He had far too many lures and other fishing gadgets to use a regular tackle box, so he bought a new tool box for the tools and used the old one for his fishing stuff. I was fairly certain she had no clue that I still had my father's old tackle box packed away with a few other things of his I had kept.

Nodding at her again, I stopped what I was doing and grabbed a dish towel from the counter. I dried my hands and looked up at her. I could see pain and regret in her eyes. For the first time since I had been in contact with my mother again I truly felt like maybe she was really sincere.

"Phil seems really great. He seems to be really good for you."

"He is."

She took both my hands in hers and pulled me over to the breakfast bar that separated the living room and kitchen. We sat down on the stools there and she continued to hold my hands.

Letting out a long sigh she began to talk, "I know I have a lot to make up for not only to you, but I know that by hurting you I hurt Edward too. I've said some things to both of you that I am not proud of. I can't take them back, but I do honestly regret saying them."

"You did. It really hurt him to see me in so much pain. It's hard to watch someone you love be hurt by someone else that is supposed to love them just as much if not more," I told her, using the exact way Edward had once described it to me. "And Mom, you also hurt Carlisle and Esme. You and Dad were such close friends with them and they still regarded you as such even after we moved to Arizona. What you did…How you hurt Edward and me. It hurt them too."

"I know," she whispered. Her voice shook as she started to speak again. "I've hurt all of you with my selfishness and my refusal to see things for what they really were. I know that saying I'm sorry doesn't begin to cover it, Isabella. There may not even be an apology possible to make up for what I've done, but I really am sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret what I've done. How I've hurt you. Do you believe me?"

"I want to," I said taking a deep breath, knowing it was time for me to tell her how I felt. It was time for me to be completely honest with her. "It's really, really hard to though. When I first heard from you I wasn't sure. Hell I wasn't sure this morning and I'm not now. But I want to believe you. Seeing you here now. Hearing the sincerity in your words and seeing the remorse in your eyes and for the first time actually feeling that you mean it all. I think I do." I swiped away a couple of tears that slid down my face and went on. "But even if I do believe you, you have to understand that it is going to take a long time for me to trust you again. You hurt me really bad, Mom. I couldn't, still don't, understand how a mother could do that to her child. Say the things to me that you said."

I couldn't hold it in any longer and broke down crying. It was just too hard not to.

"Shhh, baby," my mother said as she wrapped her arms around me and held me while I let it all out. "I'm so, so sorry, baby. I wish I could take this pain away."

I was a bit shocked by the tenderness and sincerity in her effort to comfort me. My first instinct had been to pull away from her. After all she was the cause of the pain I was feeling. She had caused this rift between us. But at the same time I found myself craving it. She was still my mother, the only living parent I had left and despite the pain she had caused me I still loved her and wanted her to be in my life if she was truly sincere in her regrets and her desire to make things right between us. It felt like it had been a lifetime since she had acted this way with me. Since she had acted like she truly cared. Since she had acted like my mother.

After a few minutes I pulled myself together. "I really want to start fresh and work to put things right between us, Mom. But I have to know that you are being completely honest here. If you hurt me again it will be the last time. I won't be a part of your life nor you mine if you ever try to behave as you have in the past."

"I want that too, baby. And I promise you that I will never hurt you again or ever take you for granted. You have grown into such a wonderful young woman and I have been such a fool not to see it," she said while handing me a tissue she'd grabbed from the box on the breakfast bar. "I want this so much."

"It's not going to be easy or instant," I told her as I wiped my eyes.

"I didn't expect it would be. But it will be worth it. _You_ are worth it." She paused briefly to wipe her own eyes and then took my hands into hers. Looking me directly in the eye and holding my gaze with hers she said, "All I am asking for is the chance. Can you give me that?"

"Yeah. I can do that. It's going to take some time, but I do want to work on it."

She pulled me into a hug. "I love you, Isabella."

"I love you too, Mom." And I really did. She hurt me deeply, but at the end of the day she was still my mother and after everything I'd read in her letter as well as the copy of my grandmother's letter she had sent with it, I could see why she was so determined to hang on to me so tightly. It didn't excuse her actions or make them right, but I knew that if I ever lost Edward again, it would devastate me and because of that, I understood why she was so desperate to cling to me. So I was willing to try. I had to. No matter what she was still my mother and there was a time when we had been really close and I wanted that again. It would take time, but I now had hope we could get there again someday.

We headed back into the kitchen and just a few seconds later Edward and Phil came in from outside.

"You okay?" Edward asked walking up behind me and sliding his arms around my waist. Kissing the top of my head he then whispered in my ear, "Or at least as okay as you can be for now?"

"Yeah. We talked and we're both ready to try. We both know it's going to take time," I told him while leaning back against him, feeling the security of his embrace, and being grateful that I would have him with me every step of the way.

I turned and saw Phil and my mom talking softly back and forth and realized just how much in love they were. I could see how much they truly cared for each other in the tender way he caressed her arm, the way her hand rested on his chest and the way she looked at him. While I didn't know if I could ever love again if I lost Edward, I could see just how good Phil was for my mother and I was happy for her. For them.

"Well, how about dessert?" Edward asked trying to lighten the mood. And in doing so it didn't mean he was letting my mother off the hook, it just meant that he could see that enough had been talked about for now and we could all use a break from the heaviness that was hanging in the air around us.

"What did Bella make?" my mother asked with a smile. "I know how much she loves to bake."

"She made turtle fudge brownies," Edward answered as he turned to pull them out of the fridge.

"Well I never could resist chocolate," Phil said causing us all to laugh. However as I looked over at him to admit to my own chocolate addiction, I saw him gazing, like a man who was head over heels in love, at my mother. More specifically her eyes. I may have gotten my personality traits and hair color from my father, but my other physical characteristics came from my mother, including my eye color.

Edward had often told me that my eyes were like pools of molten chocolate and I found myself now wondering if that was how Phil thought of my mother's eyes as well. Seeing them like this really made it easy to see how much he loved her and that really did make me happy.

I shut the dishwasher and started it. Then the four of us sat at the table and had our brownies as we talked about the wedding. I was beyond excited to become Edward's wife and in less than two days now I would do just that.

***X*X*X*X***

**Christmas Eve, 2011**

Lifting my head off the pillow, I opened my eyes just a tiny sliver before quickly closing them again in resistance to the bright sunlight that was currently streaming in through the open blinds of Edward's childhood room.

_Please let the sun holdout for the entire day,_ I silently prayed to myself.

We'd spent last night at Carlisle and Esme's house after the rehearsal dinner. Their house was just a few minutes from the inn and with the possibility of freezing rain today, Christmas Eve, my wedding day, we didn't want anything to interfere with us being able to make it to our own wedding. Nothing, not even Mother Nature herself, was going to stop Edward and me from getting married today.

"Go away," I mumbled loudly while burying my head into the pillow when someone banged on the bedroom door. I was sure it was Alice coming to begin her beauty torture routine.

"You do realize we have to get out of this bed to get married, right?" I heard Edward ask while chuckling. He snaked his arm around my waist and slid his leg over mine and scooted closer to me until he was partially lying on top of me.

I turned my head to the right and was just barely able to raise it enough to kiss Edward's cheek. "Can't we just stay here and have Reverend Weber perform the ceremony here?"

He peppered a few soft kisses to my shoulder before saying, "We could if that's what you really want."

"You'd do that? You'd really marry me right here in this bed?"

He slid his hand under my stomach and pulled me with him as he rolled over and brushed the hair off my face so he could look me in the eyes.

"Bella, I would marry you in the middle of the Thriftway canned foods aisle if that was what I had to do to make you Mrs. Edward Cullen. All that matters to me is at the end of the day, you are my wife."

How does a girl respond to that? I knew the how and the where wasn't what was important to us. I knew what he said was right because I felt the same way. His tease of running off to Rio would have been fine with me. But that would have been incredibly selfish of us. So we would give our families this moment to share with us. Like Edward had said, all that was important was that at the end of the day we'd be husband and wife.

"I love you so much," I said softly. I stroked my hand across his cheek a few times, then slid my hand behind his head and pulled him down to me for a kiss.

We were interrupted by another loud knock and the turning of the door knob, telling us whoever it was, was going to enter the room.

"My eyes are closed. Tell me if it's safe to look."

Instead of the insistent voice of Edward's sister we'd expected to hear when the door opened, we heard the soft caring voice of his mother.

Edward winked and held his finger over his mouth to silently tell me to be quiet. "Just a sec, mom," he told her.

I didn't know what he was up to until he covered my mouth with his again and gave me a mind scrambling, toe curling kiss. He then rolled and reached over the edge of the bed and grabbed his sleep pants and the shirt of his we'd gone to bed in last night. They hadn't been on long, having been quickly discarded when we'd made love.

"Okay, we're decent now," he told his mother. I felt a little guilty when I saw that she'd been standing there holding a breakfast tray full of food for the two of us, but I couldn't be sorry for the amazing kiss I'd gotten either.

"Good morning. Well it's morning for the two of you anyways. It's nearly lunch time for the rest of us," Esme said while smiling radiantly at us. Her smile was nearly as bright as the sun shining outside.

She walked over to the bed and Edward reached out, taking the tray from her and settling it on the bed between us. Noticing there was not only breakfast foods on it, there was also some lunch items as well, I twisted around and grabbed my cell phone from behind me on the bookcase headboard of the bed, thinking it surely couldn't really be that late.

"Holy crap," I gasped.

"What's wrong, baby?" Edward asked looking at me slightly concerned.

"It's a quarter past noon."

Esme sat on the edge of the bed near the foot and continued to smile at us. "I thought I'd give you both the chance to sleep in. I remember being up at the crack of dawn on my wedding day and by the time we were halfway through the reception I was exhausted. Of course shortly after we found out I was already expecting Emmett, but still if I'd been able to sleep in that day it would have helped my energy levels tremendously."

"Thanks, Mom. We really do appreciate it."

"I thought you were going to be Alice ready to drag me off to play beauty boot camp with me," I admitted while letting out a sigh of relief. I loved Alice to death, but the girl was a beauty queen drill sergeant from hell sometimes.

"Well, dear, that was part of the reason I let you guys sleep. Plus I know we were all up late last night chatting with everyone downstairs after the rehearsal. But don't dally much longer, she'll be here—"

"Right now," Alice interjected as she entered the room. "I can't believe the two of you are still in bed. Bella we have so much to do, you should be showered and ready to start."

"You have plenty of time, munchkin," Edward told her. "After all, it's not like it will take much to get Bella ready. You can't improve on perfection you know." He leaned down and kissed me before sitting up and shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth and flashing his sister a sly smirk.

"Ugh, you two are so damn wishy washy and cheesy. It's sickening," Alice groaned while making a fake gagging motion with her finger pointing at her mouth.

"Come on, Alice. Let them eat and then you can have your fun with Bella," Esme ordered while dragging her daughter out of the room. Edward and I both waved goodbye to his sister with wide sarcastic smirks on our faces as she gapped like a fish unable to offer an argument against her mother's wishes. At the last minute when she stole one last glance in the room, I couldn't resist sticking my tongue out at her. _After all it was my wedding day, so I could do whatever I wanted, right?_

***X*X*X*X***

"Sit still, Bella." Drill sergeant Alice was in full swing while she ordered me to do what she asked as she brushed, twirled, curled and pulled my hair.

"How much longer, Alice? I thought this was a simple hairdo you were giving me. You know, the one in the picture I showed you?"

"We're almost done. And while the hair style itself was simple, your hair had to be curled first."

"Okay, so…"

"So?" Alice huffed and raised her hands up in the air, forgetting that she still had the curling iron with my hair wrapped around it in one.

"Ow! Shit, Alice. You don't have to rip my hair out of my head"

"Damn," she gasped, burning her finger when the curling iron almost slipped out of her hand.

"Serves you right," I muttered. But then when our eyes met in the mirror in front of me, we both burst out laughing.

"Sorry," we chimed in unison just like when we were younger.

But of course Alice being Alice, she had to get her say in. "Seriously though, Bella. You have a thick head of hair. Not to mention it's so long. These things take time."

Fortunately for me and my hair, she was finished with it about fifteen minutes later. I was thrilled with the results. My hair hung in soft curls down my back, with the front of it twisted back loosely and held in place by pearl embellished hair pins.

"You ready to get into your dress now?" she asked after helping me put on the necklace Edward had given me earlier as a wedding gift.

It was a circle of love pendant that had nestled in the bottom of the circle, my and Edward's birthstones with the stone for December in between them to signify the month we were getting married in. I had given him a money clip that was engraved with our initials and our wedding date. He had mentioned to me that he was tired of carrying a wallet and how a money clip would be more convenient so I got him one.

"Been ready since I got up this morning," I said through the ear splitting grin I felt spread across my face as my hand reached up and felt the necklace.

"You mean this afternoon?" she teased, quirking her eyebrow at me.

"Whatever," I told her with a roll of my eyes.

I got up and walked over to the closet door and unzipped the white garment bag that hung there containing my gown. Once the bag was completely open I brushed the bag back off the hanger and stood there looking at my dress.

"You're going to be so beautiful. Edward is going to be speechless when he see's you," Alice whispered. She had come to stand next to me and had clasped my hand in hers. "I know I gave you crap earlier about being cheesy and all, but it's so clear to us all how very much the two of you love each other. He was never this happy when you were gone."

"Neither was I." I'd barely said the words loud enough to be heard. It was hard to think about that time.

"Okay, this is supposed to be a happy day, so let's get you into your dress," Alice ordered. "Oh here don't forget this," she said handing me a small flat box and winking at me.

I snickered when I realized what it was she had handed to me. "I wonder what your brother will think when he finds out that the garter isn't the only thing that's purple under my dress."

"Your garter is purple?" she asked. "Let me see. And why?"

After wondering briefly if she had caught all of my statement or if she'd focused solely on the fact that I had a purple garter, I opened the box and showed her the garter that Edward had picked out. "He popped in at my office for lunch one day, saying he knew it didn't go with our wedding theme, but he loved the color on me so much he couldn't resist when he saw it."

She let out a few giggles. "Jasper has a thing for green."

"Your eyes?" I asked her.

"Yeah he says he likes it on me, and says what it does to the color of my eyes really gets to him."

"I could see that," I told her. "I love green on Edward too and you guys have practically the same color of eyes."

"Okay, enough of our husbands' pervy preferences. Let's get you dressed. Can't have you late for your own wedding," she said.

I turned to her and pulled her in for a hug. "It's real. This is really going to happen isn't it? Edward is going to be my husband."

"It really is, sweetie."

Alice and I turned simultaneously when we heard the door to the room open. She had just finished zipping my gown for me and helping me slip on my shoes. In walked Esme, Rose and my mother.

"Oh, Isabella," my mother gasped while clasping her visibly shaking hand over her mouth.

"Bella, honey, you are beautiful," Esme said as both women embraced me between the two of them and sandwiched me in a hug.

I had seen my mother and Esme deep in conversation last night at dinner after the rehearsal and it gave me hope that my mother was making amends with her friend too.

"Now let us get a better look at you," my mother demanded as their arms loosened the tight grip they'd had on me.

"Didn't I tell you her dress was gorgeous and she was going to be gorgeous in it?" Esme added as they walked around me and took in the details of my appearance.

I watched my mother's face for any hint of animosity towards Esme for being there to help me shop for my dress and filling in for all the things that a mother would normally do, but all I saw was a glint of sadness in her eyes that told me she wished she had been there too.

"Oh, Bella, baby. You are just stunning. Look at yourself. Do you see how beautiful you are?" my mother asked.

I turned to face the full length mirror and gazed at my reflection. She was right. I wasn't one who would normally say I was stunning, I didn't think I looked bad or ever put myself down, but I could truly see how pretty I looked today. And looking at my dress, I was so happy that I had chosen it. It was different than what I had thought I'd want, but seeing it on me now I knew there was never any other option.

My gown made me feel like a princess. It was strapless with a criss-cross design to the bodice that was topped off by a sweetheart neckline which was accented with thousands of crystal beads and rhinestones. The dress then spread out into a full classic ball gown type skirt that consisted of layers of tulle and taffeta covered with layers of glitter netting that gave it just the right amount of sparkle. I absolutely loved it.

"I do," I said finally answering her.

"Well now, we have just a couple more details to take care of before you say those words to my son," Esme insisted with a smile.

"What details are you talking about? All I need are my flowers."

"And here they are," Rose said, giving me a quick hug before handing me my bouquet of red roses.

"Really now? Then you already have something old, something new—"

"Something borrowed and something blue?" my mother asked, finishing Esme's sentence for her perfectly, almost as if they had rehearsed saying it together.

"Oh my gosh, Bella," Alice gasped. "I totally forgot about all those things. I can't believe I did that. Again."

Her last word had been nothing more than a whisper and I knew she was about to beat herself up over it. I didn't know what the "again" part of Alice's words had meant, but I wasn't going to let her feel guilty for forgetting anything about today. She had been such a tremendous help to me and Edward and we hadn't given anyone much time to throw together the details of our wedding. However before I could say anything, Esme did.

"No worries," she said kissing her daughter on the cheek. "We'll save Bella just like Rose and I did you on your wedding day. We know how you get all wrapped up in all the other details."

"Your dress is your something new," my mother said.

"And my necklace from Edward," I told them.

Esme smiled in agreement after looking at it and then placing a small white box in my hand she added, "And I have your something borrowed."

I removed the lid to the box to find a pair of diamond and pearl earrings. I wasn't sure if they were white gold or another metal, but they were silver in color and had two rows of diamonds that were shaped in a sort of a "J" form that held a pearl cradled in it.

"Esme, they're so pretty."

She took one from the box and carefully placed it in my ear. After securing the back she picked up the other one and moved to my other side. With her voice full of love and joy she placed the second earring in my other ear and told me about them, "These were given to me on my wedding day by Carlisle. They were his wedding gift to me, and Rose and Alice both wore them on their wedding day."

"Thank you," I murmured as I hugged her tightly.

"You're quite welcome, honey. You've been a part of this family since the day we met you. They only thing that is changing today is that you'll officially have the family name as yours now." She stood back and gently clasped my face in her hands. "Carlisle and I love you as one of our own just as we do Rose and Jasper."

"I love you both too," I replied as I fought back the swell of emotions that were threatening to make me cry.

Esme, Rose and Alice all hugged me again before they left to get in place for the wedding and give my mom and me a few minutes together before Carlisle came to escort me down the aisle.

"Well, it won't be long now," my mother said.

"No it won't."

"Your father would have been so happy for you today. I'm sure he's watching over you as we speak."

I laughed lightly as a memory came to me. "I remember how he teased Edward when he came to pick me up for a date the first time."

"Oh dear god yes. He was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning his gun."

"Yes. He scared the shit out of Edward so bad, he'd almost turned around and went back out the door," I told her while smiling at the memory.

"You know I told Charlie he was going to scare Edward off. But you know what he said?"

"No. What?" I asked.

"He said that any boy who would run off so easily wasn't worth a second of his baby girl's time or affection."

"That sounds like dad."

"Charlie would be thrilled to see you marrying Edward. Despite his teasing, he really did like him."

I nodded in agreement while wishing that my father could be with me today more than I had any other day since he had died.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "How much do you remember about Charlie's mother?"

"Grandma Marie?" I questioned.

"Yes."

"Not much, except that of course I was partially named after her."

"I didn't think you would. You were pretty young when she passed. She adored you though. She would rock you for hours any time she could," my mother paused while she opened her purse and took something that was wrapped in tissue paper out of it. "This was hers. You were only a little over two when she passed, but she wanted you to have this. She had instructed Charlie to give it to you on your wedding day."

I took the item from her hand as she held it out to me and unfolded the pieces of the tissue paper.

"Oh, mom, it's so beautiful," I whispered as I gazed at the diamond and sapphire bracelet sitting in my hand. It was a thin strand of alternating round and square cut diamonds offset by several oval shaped sapphires of the most vivid blue I had ever seen.

"Your grandfather had given it to Marie on her wedding day. As her only granddaughter, she wanted you to have it and wanted it to be given to you on your special day."

"Thank you for bringing it to me. Will you help me put it on?"

"Of course." She fastened the bracelet to my wrist. "There now you have your something old and blue." She paused for a minute and then pulled me to her in a bone crushing hug. "I am so happy to be here today, Bella," she told me. Her voice was shaking from all the emotions she was feeling. "Thank you so much for sending the invitation. I know when you sent it, I didn't deserve it. But I am so thrilled you did and so happy to be here."

"You're welcome. I'm really glad you came and I really want a fresh start for us."

"Me too, baby. Me too," she choked out and hugged me even tighter.

A soft knock on the door broke us apart.

"I'll get it. You need to fix your makeup." She smiled and turned me to look in the mirror. The few tears I hadn't been able to hold back had smudged my eye makeup.

"Is she ready?" A voice I recognized as Carlisle's asked my mother.

"Yes. Just making a quick last minute touch up and she'll be perfect," she told him. She then walked back over to me and kissed me on the cheek and said she'd see me out in the wedding area.

I fixed the smudge and then grabbed my flowers before turning around to find Carlisle smiling at me.

"You look beautiful, Bella."

"Thank you. How's Edward?" I asked him as I walked across the room to him.

"Eager," he replied with a chuckle. "How about you? You ready?"

"Yup," I said instantly, smiling widely.

"Then let's get you married to my son, before he comes and runs off with you. He's having a hard time remaining patient."

I laughed and placed my hand in the crook of his arm as we headed out to the main ball room of the inn.

**~*Edward*~**

I was pacing the floor of the small room that myself and the guys had used to get dressed in when I felt a large hand gripping my shoulder.

"Dude, you nervous?" Emmett asked.

"No. Ready is more like it."

"So tell me, bro. Where did you and Bella sneak off to last night between the rehearsal and dinner?"

"The lake," I told him as I stopped to stare out the window.

"The lake? What on earth did you go down there for? Especially so close to dark?"

"You know all those times when you were home for the summer and everyone would wonder where Bella and I had gone off to? How you used to ask me where my and Bella's secret make out place was 'cause you could tell that's what we'd been up to and you and Rose needed one too?" I asked him, thinking that since Bella and I were adults and would be married in less than an hour, it wouldn't hurt to give up where we'd always snuck off too when we were younger.

"Yeah. But the lake? How'd you get there? That's one hell of a walk."

"Sure it is if you take the roads. But if you cross the creek that borders our yard and old man Banners then you take the trail that cuts across the outer part of his property, it leads you right to the lake. Only takes about fifteen minutes to get there walking."

"So that's why you guys would be in the yard one minute and gone the next," he said realization dawning on him.

"Yeah," I said with a snort and a chuckle. I couldn't believe he had never discovered the short cut Bella and I had found.

"Okay I get it back then. But why yesterday? You just sneak off to make out for old time's sake or what?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively at me while he waited for my response.

"No. See years ago when Bella and I first started dating and going to the lake we carved our initials and the date we'd became an official couple in one of the huge pine tree trunks near it. So yesterday I took her back to that tree and with one of dad's old pocket knives from when we were kids in Boy Scouts, we carved our wedding date and the word forever below our initials and the other date," I explained to him.

"Wow," he said coming to stand next to me at the window. "That's actually pretty cool. It's kind of like you guys have permanently etched yourselves in time."

"Yeah, I guess it is. At least for as long as the tree is still standing."

"So no second guessing at all? It's only been a year since she's been back in your life. No cold feet?" he teased as he glanced down at his watch. I'd purposely left mine off knowing I'd be cursing the hands when they didn't move fast enough for my liking.

"None. When you know you know. I think I was ready for this moment the second I laid eyes on her last Christmas. I just want to make it official so we can do all the things we've dreamed of."

"Well then let me put you out of your misery," Jasper said entering the room. "It's time. Your dad just went to escort Bella."

"Let's get it done!" Emmett exclaimed smacking me on the shoulder again. Jasper and I just shook our heads at him. Although I couldn't really say much, considering I was thinking almost the exact same thing. I was more than ready for Bella to be my wife.

While the three of us walked through the ballroom to take our places on the small stage at the front of the room where the ceremony would be performed, I looked around and took in all the decorations. I hadn't even really seen them when we'd first arrived. I had seen the fences along the Inn's property decorated with garland and red bows, but I had been too anxious to get dressed and get married to notice how the inside had been turned into the perfect wedding venue for Bella and me.

However now as I stood here waiting for the love of my life to pledge her life to me forever, I saw everything. There were two small sections of white chairs set up for our guests at the base of the small stage with a white runner laid down the center separating them. At the back of the room were the tables set up for our dinner. The tables were all decorated with red, green and gold Christmas themed items. There were candles of varying sizes set in evergreen wreaths, festive red placemats, and napkins adorning them all. Large red satin bows added a bit of holiday color on the chairs up front for the ceremony as well as those placed around the tables. There were even red and gold Christmas trees to add to the holiday feel of the room.

None of it mattered though a few minutes later when the music began to play. As soon as I heard the first note, my eyes were focused on the doorway as I tried not to fidget in excitement while waiting for Bella to appear.

Rose was first to walk through the door and she was followed by Alice. They both looked beautiful in their gold bridesmaid's dresses. I glanced to my left and saw my brother and best friend both watching their wives walk towards us, wearing expressions that were filled with love and pride.

Next came Lizzie looking like a little princess as she dropped red rose petals while walking up the aisle. When she reached the front I knelt down and kissed her cheek before she went to sit next to my mother in the front row of the chairs.

The music tempo then changed slightly to a slower beat and I saw my father and Bella standing at the entrance to the room. They walked slowly to the end of the runner and paused. The vision of Bella in her wedding gown took my breath away. She was stunning—perfect. There really weren't any words fit to describe just how incredibly beautiful she was.

Everyone stood as my father began to escort Bella to the front of the room. As Bella took her first step on the runner, her eyes found mine and our eyes remained locked on one another and nothing else in the room mattered. Once they reached the stage, my father walked her up the three stairs and then kissed Bella on the cheek before placing her hand in mine.

Not wanting to let her go, I held her small hand in mine and couldn't help whispering next to her ear that I loved her. She softly replied that she loved me too and we turned to face Reverend Weber so he could marry us.

We kept out vows simple, using the traditional ones that had been spoken by many couples before us, adding in a few words of our own, telling each other how much we loved one another, and how grateful we were for our second chance and our future together. After the vows were said, we exchanged rings and I do's. I knew that for as long as I lived I would never forget the radiant smile that graced Bella's face as Reverend Weber pronounced us husband and wife.

Emmett let out a loud catcall when I was already swooping in to kiss my bride before I had been given the okay to do so and the entire room of guests joined him in celebrating our union with a loud round of applause.

A few hours later, after the cake had been cut, the garter retrieved from Bella's silky smooth leg and it along with her bouquet had been tossed, I was ready to steal my wife away and begin our honeymoon. But there was one thing I needed to do first. A tradition I had to uphold. It wouldn't be exactly the same, but since this year Christmas Eve was even more special than it normally was, bending tradition a little to make it even more special would be a good thing.

My eyes captured Bella's from across the room where she was talking to Alice, Rose and my two cousins Tanya and Irina. It only took them a second to notice that Bella's attention was no longer focused on their conversation. I watched as I got closer and they followed her gaze to me. They must have known that she was lost to them with my appearance because they simply hugged her and waved to me with knowing grins on their faces as they left her waiting for me.

"Hello there, Mrs. Cullen," I whispered against the bare skin next to her ear as I wrapped her in my arms.

"Mmm, I love hearing you say that," she replied softly as she slipped her arms around my waist.

"I'll be saying it for the rest of our lives." I leaned down and gave her a soft lingering kiss. "How about one last dance with your husband before we leave this place and begin our honeymoon?"

"Okay."

I released my arms from around her and took her hand, leading her outside to the gazebo.

"Oh, Edward, it's amazing," she sighed, taking in all the decorations surrounding the structure.

Not only was it decorated with twinkle lights as it had been when we'd danced under it last New Year's Eve and the night of my prom, but it also had several small Christmas trees surrounding it along with a few sprigs of mistletoe hanging from the center of the roof.

Feeling her shiver from the cold night air, I took off my tux jacket and chuckled as I saw it swallow her small frame when she slipped her arms into it. She just shrugged, not caring that it practically swallowed her whole or hung past her rear end, and continued to look around the gazebo.

"Of course," she said when her sight turned to the ceiling and she noticed the mistletoe hanging there.

"It is Christmas Eve. And it is a tradition of ours," I said pulling her closer to me and holding her tightly.

"It's perfect." She slid one arm around my waist and the other up my chest until it was resting on the back of my neck.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Cullen," I murmured before covering her lips with mine and kissing her until we had to break apart for air.

We held each other, swaying to the soft sounds of the music that was drifting out to us from inside. We went on like that for a while until when out of nowhere, Bella's head popped up off my chest. Her eyes were bright and full of questions as she gazed up at me.

"Wait, we're not staying here at the inn tonight?"

"So you did catch that?" I asked teasing her.

"I did. Now spill, husband."

Hearing her refer to me as her husband was just as thrilling for me as it was for her to hear me call her my wife. I loved it.

"I've booked us a room back in Port Angeles since we have an early flight in the morning."

"Flight to where?" she asked, hopeful that I might spill the details of where we were going.

"You just don't give up do you?"

"Nope."

"Well, wife, you are going to have to be patient just a little longer. By the time we board the plane you will at least know what state we are flying off to."

"Say it again," she demanded softly.

"What that you need to be patient?" I teased her again, knowing exactly what it was she wanted to hear, but unable to resist teasing her.

"No."

"Hmm, wife," I murmured next to her ear and felt her shudder. "Like hearing that too, do ya, wife."

"I do."

"I think it's time for us to go." I didn't want to wait any longer to begin our honeymoon.

She nodded in agreement and a few minutes later, after one last kiss under the mistletoe, we were back inside, saying our goodbyes to our friends and family.

***X*X*X*X***

"I love you," I moaned against her bare shoulder as our bodies joined together and we began to make love for the first time as husband and wife.

"Love you too," she returned in a breathy voice.

I had taken my time, worshiping every inch of her body after I had removed the incredibly sexy purple lace bra and panties she'd been wearing under her wedding gown. In fact I may have ripped the bottoms in my desire to get them off of her after I had taken in the sinfully delicious sight of her wearing them. Didn't matter though, I'd buy her more if they were ruined.

As we made love and our entire beings connected, I couldn't help feeling that it was more. Bella and I had made love countless times, but now—this time—it felt somehow different—better.

"Can you feel that, baby?" I whispered to her. "Does it feel different to you too?"

"Yes. It's…just…_more_," she stuttered softly, letting me know that she was feeling exactly as I was too.

We took our time, savoring every second of pleasure our bodies gave each other while our hearts tied themselves to each other in a bond that we knew would never again be broken.

Late that night as we held each other and drifted to sleep, I knew that even though we had suffered during our separation that everything was finally just as it was supposed to be. Those years had been hard, but I'd suffer through it all again if I knew that eventually we'd end up right where were we were today. Together, just as we had always been meant to be.

**Hope you enjoyed their magical day. Don't forget to check out the pictures on my blog. You can see Bella's dress, their rings, the decorations and more. **

**Up next is the epilogue. **

**Let me know what ya thought. Thanks for reading!**

**EA**


	8. Chapter 8 Epilogue

**Happy Friday everyone, I hope you are all ready for the epilogue. Don't forget to check out my note at the bottom for info on my next story. Thank you to all my wonderful readers for all your support. You guys are the best!**

**My-Bella and Hope4more, I couldn't ask for anyone better than the two of you to come along with me as I tell my stories. You are both truly amazing and I cherish your friendship immensely!**

**Disclaimer:**

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Stephenie Meyer owns anything and everything relating to Twilight and its characters. **No copyright infringement is intended.**

The original aspects of this story—all of the original characters, plot, names, nicknames are all the property of the author—eternally addicted_. __**Unauthorized use of such material is plagiarism. In simple terms—it's theft. **_I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise mentioned in this story. _**No reproduction, downloading, copying, reposting, or any other kind of redistribution of this story or its contents is permitted without my express written authorization.**_

**~*Bella*~**

**October, 2015**

Rose and I were making our way through the maze of people that were rapidly filling Safeco Field. I was six days past my due date and trying to keep up with her was not an easy task. Her long legs seemed to be moving faster than what they normally did.

Today was a make it or break it day for the Seattle Mariners. Actually it was win or hit the golf course for the Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals. They were playing game seven of the World Series and both teams were tied three games each. Whoever won today would be the World Series champions.

Because today's game was such a big one for Emmett, everyone was attending but not all of us had arrived yet. Alice and Jasper were coming with Carlisle and Esme, and Edward was on his way from the airport with my mother and Phil whose plane had been due to arrive hours ago but because of severe weather in Jacksonville had been delayed.

Edward and I had spent the night in Seattle at Rose and Emmett's house since my mom and Phil were arriving this morning. Phil had made the switch from playing baseball to coaching two years ago. Having never made it from the minor leagues to the majors, he was ecstatic about attending a World Series game even if it was as a spectator and not a player. When we'd learned of his and my mother's late arrival, I'd ridden with Rose to the game so she could get Lizzie, who was now ten, and her five year old son EJ, short for Emmett Jr., settled at the childcare center provided at the stadium for all the players' children. They would sit in the stands with Rose on occasion but most of the time they enjoyed playing with the other kids more.

"Esme tells me you've finished the nursery," Rose said as we finally made it to our seats and sat down, waiting for the game to begin.

"We did," I told her as I ripped off a piece of the huge pretzel the two of us were sharing and dipped it into the cup of cheese I'd gotten to go with it. "Edward put the furniture together weekend before last and then we finished putting everything in its place. Now all we have to do is wait for this little one to get here." I rubbed my hand over my swollen midsection and was rewarded with a series of quick kicks.

"You know it's driving Alice crazy that you guys haven't told anyone other than the grandparents what sex the baby is."

"I know it is. But when we saw how crazy she went when you were pregnant with EJ we knew we had to do something to hold her back. Edward figured if she didn't know whether to buy for a girl or a boy it would at the very least keep her somewhat under control."

"You think she was bad with EJ? You should have seen her when I was pregnant with Lizzie," Rose sighed at the memory. "I swear Lizzie had enough clothes to wear a different outfit everyday for at least a month. Probably more."

"Did she ever wear it all?" I asked while thinking we had done the right thing in keeping what we were having a secret.

"No. I ended up exchanging at least half of the outfits because she grew too fast to wear them."

"There they are." Rose and I heard a familiar voice call from behind us. We turned to see Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and Esme coming down the steps toward our seats. Once they reached us, we stood and gave each of them a hug.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Esme asked me as she gently rested her hand on my baby bump and rubbed it lovingly.

"I'm good. Praying I don't make it to my doctor appointment on Monday, but I'm feeling pretty good today."

"Dr. Sinclair tells me she is going to induce your labor on Monday if you haven't had the baby yet," Carlisle commented with an expression that was a cross between professional doctor demeanor and concerned father-in-law.

"That's what she said. But I'm still hoping I don't make it that far even if it is only three days away."

"Where's Edward?" Esme asked.

"He's on his way now. My mom's plane was delayed."

"Speak of the devil here he comes now," Jasper added.

I looked up and saw Edward practically jogging down the stairs towards us. My mom and Phil were a few steps behind him.

My relationship with my mother had finally returned to how it should be. I would even say it was much better than it had ever been. We'd taken things slow that first year after Edward and I had gotten married. That had allowed me time to build my trust in her again at a pace I was comfortable with. She had never pushed or tried to force anything on me concerning the pace at which we discovered the ability to be friends again first. Once we got past the initial rebuilding process and I was comfortable that I could really trust her, we were able to reestablish the mother-daughter bond we had lost before and that led to the relationship we had now.

Another change that had taken place since Edward and I had gotten married was that my mother and Phil had tied the knot too. Phil had proposed to my mom several times and she had finally agreed to marry him last year. She hadn't been ready but once she was she didn't hesitate or want to wait. They had flown to Vegas the first weekend where Edward and I could meet them there and had gotten married in a small quiet ceremony.

I waved to my mom and smiled brightly at her and Phil as they approached us. I was really excited to see them since we hadn't seen them since June when Edward and I had flown down to Florida to visit them. We had taken a two week vacation and had spent a week with them in Jacksonville and then a week on Sanibel Island off the coast of Fort Myers, Florida.

It had been a wonderful trip to both places. The week on Sanibel had been an especially nice getaway for us since we knew the further along I went in my pregnancy we wouldn't be able to travel. Also once the baby was here, alone time would be less easily obtained. So we took advantage of the opportunity while we had it.

"Why is everyone standing? Are you okay, baby? You're not having contractions are you?" Edward asked in a slightly panicked tone as he came up next to me and slid his own hand across my belly. It was there so frequently you'd have thought it was being held by some invisible force. Which I guess in some way it was—his love for our child.

Edward must have mistaken the scene he had come upon when arriving at our seats. Several members of our family standing there, gathered around me and Esme having her hands planted on my swollen stomach must have made him think something was wrong.

"Everything's fine. We're fine," I told him quickly as I placed my hand on top of his and eased any budding doubts he had about my or the baby's well being. "Everyone else just arrived too," I added. "We were just catching up and your mom was asking how I was and where you were."

"Okay. Good," he responded with a sigh of relief as he leaned down and kissed me softly.

Edward had become incredibly protective of me since the moment we'd found out I was pregnant. Thank goodness he hadn't become too overbearing or a complete worry wart. It was actually really very sweet the way he insisted on taking care of me and doing things for me. He had amazingly found a way to do it without making me feel helpless or useless and I loved him even more for it.

"He's just like Carlisle was with each of my pregnancies," Esme informed me as she winked at her son, both teasing him and reassuring us both that his behavior was completely normal and expected. She also inadvertently clued me in on the fact Edward would react the same with any other children we might have in the years to come.

Everyone finished their hellos to each other and we all settled into our seats for the start of the game after the National Anthem had been sung.

***X*X*X*X***

Nearly three hours later, in the ninth inning, I couldn't sit anymore. I had become restless and tired of sitting. My rear end was hurting from the combination of sitting in hard seats and the pressure the baby was putting on my nether region.

I turned to Alice who was sitting in the seat on my right. "Want to go get some nachos and take a walk?" I asked her. The game was tied and felt as though there was no end in sight. I really needed to get up and move around. Not to mention a stop at the restroom was in order.

"Sure," Alice replied eagerly. I knew that baseball wasn't really her thing, but she did want to be here to cheer her big brother on with the rest of us.

"Wanna come with us?" Alice asked Rose.

"Where?" she asked in return.

"Little momma here wants some nachos." Alice hitched her thumb and motioned to me.

"I'll go, but you get to answer to your brother if I miss some big play or hit he makes."

Alice simply shrugged her shoulders like handling her bear of a brother was the easiest thing in the world.

I slid my hand from Edward's and leaned down to grab my purse, which was a challenge all by itself, before I stood to leave.

"You need something, honey? I'll go get it for you," Edward offered glancing back and forth between me and the game.

"Well, I'm kinda hankering for some nachos, but I need to use the restroom and more than anything I need to get out of these seats. Between them and our baby my ass is numb."

"Wait? Numb? Is that normal?" he asked.

"I think I recall reading something about it somewhere. Something about pressure on the sciatic nerves or whatever it is down there that the baby's head is pushing on."

"Do you really think you should be walking so much?" he asked, his voice clouded with concern.

"Edward, I can't sit here any longer. The game has been tied for five innings now. I have to get up," I whined, hoping he'd give in when he saw how badly I needed to move around.

"Is something wrong?" Carlisle asked from his seat behind us.

"Bella's bottom is numb from sitting and she wants to get up and walk around," Edward relayed to his father. I could tell by the somewhat pleading tone in his voice, he was hoping Carlisle would back him up and say that I should stay there.

"And you don't want her to?" Carlisle questioned his son.

"Well, what if she goes into labor?"

Carlisle smirked at his son before saying, "If she goes into labor it's not going to make much difference whether she is sitting here with you or walking around with the girls. Either way there will be plenty of time to get her to the hospital."

"Are you sure?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Carlisle told him confidently before letting a small chuckle escape. "First babies are notorious for being stubborn and slow. At least in the delivery process anyways. And this baby is already six days late so it is already fulfilling that expectation."

"You've got your cell phone right?" Edward asked as he reached up to take my hand and squeeze it like it was some sort of lifeline between us.

"Yes, dear," I told him with a smile as I rolled my eyes at him.

"And you promise to call me if there is any sign of you going into labor?"

"I promise."

"Okay. Don't be gone too long."

I nodded and glanced at the score board as I waddled my way out of the aisle our seats were in. It was still three to three. Hopefully one of the teams would score soon and we'd leave for a much more comfortable place.

The three of us stopped at the restroom first and then got an extra large order of nachos to share as we walked around the ball park. Alice and Rose gave me a look of horror when I ordered them with extra jalapenos, and I was certain I'd probably regret eating them later, but for now I had to have them.

The walking really seemed to ease my discomfort and before I knew it we were half way around the stadium.

"Ooh look," Alice squealed. "It's the gift shop. Let's go in and see if they have any cute baby things."

"You mean any that Emmett hasn't already bought," Rose added with a snort, correcting her sister-in-law.

Rose was right too. Emmett had buried us in a plethora of Mariners baby items and according to him it didn't matter whether or not the baby was a boy or a girl. He claimed that either would be equally cute decked out in all the stuff he had given us.

"Emmett is buying gifts for the baby?" Alice asked in a shocked tone as I dumped what was left of the nachos in a nearby trash can and headed into the Mariners' team store.

"Very much so," I replied trailing slightly behind the two of them. I wasn't able to move quite as fast as they were.

"Oh look at these," Alice cooed, holding up a bottle set that came with a bottle, pacifier, sippy cup and bib.

"Got it already," I said with a sigh.

"You do?" Alice asked.

"Oh my god," I huffed. "Binkies, blankets, onesies, bottles—all with the Mariners logo on them of course." I picked up a bottle I saw to show Alice and then told her, "Even a mini Emmett Cullen jersey. I swear this baby will have as much Mariners gear as regular clothes."

Alice looked at Rose as if wanting an explanation for Emmett's actions.

"What can I say," Rose told her. "He's excited to be an uncle." Seeing the pout on Alice's face, Rose asked her, "You didn't think you were the only one that knew how to spoil a baby did you?"

"Well…" Alice commented with a shrug.

"You know," Rose said as she nudged Alice's shoulder with her own playfully. "If you and Jasper would ever get around to having a baby he would spoil it too."

"Yeah, I suppose you are right. But we just aren't ready yet. We are enjoying our freedom. Is that selfish?"

"Not if it's what you both want," I answered."You and Jasper have only been married a couple of years longer than Edward and me. It took us nearly four years to be ready."

"Bella's right, Alice. Just because Emmett and I got pregnant less than a year after we were married doesn't mean you are wrong for waiting. You guys will know when it's right."

"Thanks. You guys are the best," she chimed.

"That's what sisters are for," I told her as she wrapped one arm around each of us for a hug. Or as best as she could anyways given that Rose was nearly a foot taller than her and I was probably that amount rounder right now.

We were engrossed in looking through the vast array of souvenirs when a loud roar cheers that erupted from within the store, causing me to drop the keychain I'd been looking at.

I squatted to pick it up. When I did there was a sudden snap or popping feeling inside me and I felt a sudden gush of fluid run down my leg soaking it, my shoe, and as I looked down stunned by what I was feeling I saw a puddle on the floor under me.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, thinking I'd peed on myself, that the squatting had forced the baby to put pressure on my bladder, causing me to pee. However when I went to stand back up so I could get Rose or Alice's attention I was met with an intense cramp that caused my whole abdomen to tighten and get hard along with causing me to have the sensation of wanting to bear down; I knew that I hadn't peed on myself.

The pain left me gasping for air and unable to stand so I sat all the way down on the floor. There was nothing else I could do. I fought the urge to cry as the full realization of knowing my water had broken and I was in labor hit me.

"Rose," I called to her but she didn't even flinch and kept her gaze fixed on the TV screen. I couldn't really blame her. I'd seen the images on the monitor before I'd bent over. If it had been Edward up on that screen partaking in one of the biggest moments of his baseball career, I'd be glued to it too.

However I had to get her attention. I couldn't just sit here and have this baby on the floor in the team store. "Rose!" I shouted a little louder this time. She was closest to me and I really didn't want to draw the attention of everyone in the store.

"Oh. My. God! I know, Bella. I know," she called. I instantly knew it was not my current state she was so pumped up about when she didn't even turn to look at me. "It's friggin amazing isn't it?" she asked, her voice choked with emotion and excitement for her husband.

"Rose!" I screamed frantically. That got her attention and several other people's too. Being the center of attention was not what I wanted right this minute, but it really couldn't be helped.

"We're the World Series champions and Emmett got the game winning hit," Rose exclaimed as she spun to look at me. Thankfully what was happening in the game was more exciting to the other fans in the vicinity because they all quickly turned back around not wanting to be distracted from their celebrations by some crazy woman sitting on the floor screaming.

I glanced briefly to the TV mounted on the wall and saw what appeared to be the entire team jumping up and down with their arms around each other. Confetti was flying everywhere, fireworks were booming in the air and the word "champions" was flashing on the screen as well.

"Oh shit, Bella. Are you stuck? Do you need help standing? Gosh I hope you didn't overdo it walking. Edward will kill me," she ranted while making her way to me.

"Call Edward now," I muttered through gritted teeth as another cramp surged through my midsection.

She stared at me for a second before her eyes really saw what was going on. "Holy shit! You're in labor! Alice!" she shrieked sounding totally like our sister-in-law.

"What's wrong?" Alice asked as she fought through the crowd of people that had gathered around the TV, somehow already having her hands full of World Series Champions merchandise.

"Go find an employee and tell them to call for medical assistance. Now!" Rose ordered as she pulled her phone out of her purse and began dialing what I hoped was Edward's number.

"What? Wh—" Alice stopped whatever it was she was about to say. Her eyes followed Rose's to me. Her eyes about popped out of her head as soon as she looked down and saw my hunched over form clutching my midsection. Without saying another word she dropped everything in her hands, spun and took off in the direction I remembered seeing the checkout counter when we'd first entered the store.

**~*Edward*~**

"Come on, Emmett," I chanted as my brother came up to the plate for what could possibly be his last at bat of the season.

The game was now in the bottom of the eleventh and the whole thing had been an amazing pitching duel put on by both sides after a few initial runs had been scored early in the game by both teams. The score was tied three to three and while both teams had threatened to score a couple of times since it tied-up, neither had been successful.

Emmett had been hitless in his previous at-bats. He got set in his stance at the plate and took a fastball from the pitcher, Crowley, for a strike.

This was our last chance to end the game without going into another inning of overtime. I knew Bella was anxious for it to be over. She'd gotten restless as the day went on—her fidgeting in her seat had given her away—which was why she wanted to walk around for a bit. I tried not to protest too much, but I just couldn't help think that the longer she remained pregnant the more likely it was she was going to go into labor and I wanted her close to me if that happened. But with the reassurance I'd gotten from my father, I was more at ease with letting her go. Plus she was with my sister and Rose, so the rational side of me knew it was likely they'd be okay with the three of them together, that they'd call me immediately if anything happened.

I also knew if Bella was really craving those nachos there was no point in trying to deny her of having them. Her moods could change at the flip of a switch and she could become a fiercely cranky pregnant woman if she didn't get whatever it was she was craving at the time. I'd learned that the hard way at three am one night months earlier when she wanted McDonalds' fries and realized all of them were closed at that hour of the night.

Glancing down at my watch then up at the scoreboard again, I realized that they'd been gone for nearly two full innings and it just seemed as though they should have been back by now. In all the excitement of the game going into extra innings I hadn't realized it before. But now in the eleventh inning I was beginning to.

Thinking of the words my father had said to me earlier, how even if Bella did go into labor she'd be fine and we'd have plenty of time to get to the hospital, I focused my attention back on the game. Emmett had worked the pitcher to a full count. The entire stadium was on their feet in hopes that he'd get a hit here and declare the Seattle Mariners the series champions.

The roar of the crowd was deafening as he fouled off a long ball; if it had been just a couple of feet to the left it would have been a home run.

"Damn, Emmett. Straighten that shit out," I muttered to myself.

The next pitch came and he hit it foul again, this time straight back behind him; the ball hit the backstop with a resounding thud behind home plate. You could just feel the tension and anticipation growing in the atmosphere around us. The Seattle fans were hungry for their first ever World Series birth.

Emmett took a step back from the plate and tightened the straps on his batter's gloves as he held his bat between his legs. Stepping back up to the plate he tapped both his cleats with the bat before taking his stance, signaling he was ready for the next pitch. The crowd began to chant, "Cullen" repeatedly.

The pitcher released the ball and my eyes tracked it on its path toward my brother. I heard the smack of bat against ball as I watched my brother send the ball sailing over the right field wall.

The stadium erupted into a deafening roar as Emmett began rounding the bases. Everyone was jumping up and down, cheering, hollering and just exploding in excitement over Emmett winning the game and thus the World Series championship for his team.

"Holy fucking shit!" Jasper shouted.

"He did it! He hit a fucking home run!" I shouted back as I gave a big fist pump in the air over my brother's achievement.

I had barely heard Jasper or my own cheers of celebration through all the other cheers, whistles and hollers that were sounding all around us when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

Seeing it was Rose I answered it right away thinking she was calling about the amazing hit her husband had just made.

"Did you see that?" I called into the phone. My voice was raspy from my own cheering.

"Edward, you need to find an usher and get to the first aid center."

I wasn't sure I had heard her right. "What?" I hollered into the device.

"Bella is having the baby, Edward. Go to the first aid center now!" she screamed.

"Fuck," I shouted as a slid my phone in my pocket. I sucked in a deep breath and tried not to worry, but that really wasn't helping much. I quickly informed everyone what was going on. I was still fighting the urge to panic as my dad assured me once again everything would be okay. Although I couldn't help thinking that I should have just walked Bella to the bathroom and to get her nachos before insisting that she come back to our seats.

The two of us took off to find someone who could lead me to my wife after telling everyone else that we'd let them know where to go and what to do as soon as we knew.

We found the nearest usher and explained to him what was going on. He asked if I knew where Bella had been when she went into labor and I said no, only that she along with Alice and Rose had gone to get some nachos and walk for a bit.

Apparently there were two first aid centers in the stadium. So the usher called in on his two-way radio to see if anyone was aware of which one Bella had been taken to. He quickly learned that she was halfway around the ballpark. Not wanting us to get lost, he called for security to come and escort us to the location.

It felt like much longer but after about five minutes a security officer pulled up in front of us in a golf cart. We climbed in and while we were on the way my father called my mom and filled her in on what was going on and to sit tight because they'd probably be taking Bella by ambulance to the nearest hospital. He then told her he would let them know as soon as he knew.

The security officer drove as quickly as he safely could through the mass amounts of people still trying to make their way out of the stadium. Despite the fact that the golf cart had a flashing light and siren similar to that of a police car, it still amazed me how many people just kept on going and disregarded the oncoming vehicle.

After what seemed to take forever, we finally arrived at the first aid location.

Just before we walked through the door, my dad stopped me and said, "Calm down, Edward. Chances are Bella has just simply begun to have contractions, possibly fueled by her walk, but it's likely still going to be sometime before the baby is actually born."

I let out a sigh knowing he was right, that I needed to calm down before I faced Bella, but I just didn't know if I could. I was anxious, nervous, excited and desperate to see her and know that she was okay. I also somehow wondered if my father had been able to take his own advice when it had been him that had been rushing to his expectant wife. I remembered having once heard a story once about how when my mother went into labor with Alice, my father had been busy delivering a patient's baby and he'd nearly missed being there for Alice's arrival into this world.

"Edward, do you hear me, Son?" he asked me.

I nodded in reply, knowing I could do this for my wife and child. I had to be cool under pressure so that she was since this was definitely not how either of us had envisioned our child being born.

My father rested his hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Ready?" he inquired.

I nodded again and took a deep breath while scrubbing my hands over my face in an attempt to calm myself down.

Pushing the door open, I was met with a gurney rolling past me and my wife screaming, "I'm not leaving here without my husband."

"Edward, thank god," my sister called out in relief the second she saw me.

Suddenly Bella's head turned and her neck and back arched in such a way that she could see me.

"Edward," she cried and instantly I rushed to her side as fast as I could.

"I'm here, baby," I told her as I leaned down and kissed her quickly before smoothing her hair back from her face.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," she whined.

"I know, baby, I know," I told her and continued to run my hand through her hair and hold her hand with my other one, trying to get her to settle down.

"I'm so sorry. I should have stayed with you."

"Hey, you have no reason to be sorry. I knew you were uncomfortable. So you started having contractions. It's not a big deal, we'll ride in the ambulance and get to the hospital and have the baby."

"Oh, shit!" Bella cried out and squeezed my hand as if she was trying to break it in two.

Before I could say anything the paramedic was speaking, "Sir, I realize you want to know what's going on with your wife, but if we don't get her in the ambulance and on her way to the hospital she is going to deliver that baby right here."

"What? What do you mean she's going to have it right here? How is that possible? She just started having contractions," I argued as I ran my hand through my hair in frustration. Surely he couldn't be serious. He was just a paramedic. He had to be wrong. "Dad, tell me he is wrong. She can't be that close already," I begged my father.

My father introduced himself quickly to the paramedic and explained to him that he was the chief of obstetrics in Forks and asked for a quick rundown on what they'd found when they examined Bella.

"Edward, I'm afraid he's right," my father said as he turned away from the paramedic. "Apparently part of Bella's discomfort this afternoon must have been labor related because when they examined her she was already dilated to an eight and it won't take long for her to progress the rest of the way. Especially since her water has already broken."

"Oh, god not another one all ready," groaned Bella as her body appeared to be trying to pull her up off the gurney on its own. "Oooh this is different, I feel like I need to go to the bathroom."

"We really need to go," my father stated. "It seems that this baby is now in a bit of a hurry."

"It's gonna be okay, baby," I said softly to Bella as I held her hand and followed alongside the gurney as the paramedics began to roll it towards the waiting ambulance.

"Wait. What hospital are they taking her too?" Alice hollered after us.

"Harborview," the paramedic called back to her.

Bella yelped as the gurney was bumped and shifted about as it was placed into the back of the ambulance.

"Ahhh, I feel like I need to push," Bella cried. Her face turned red as she panted in an effort to get through the contraction that was slicing through her tiny frame.

"Dad, please tell me this baby isn't going to be born in this ambulance. You said she'd have time to get to the hospital if she went into labor. Why aren't we moving any faster?"

I could hear the sirens blaring loudly, but it seemed to be taking forever for us to get through all the traffic surrounding the stadium. There was just so much of it, there was nowhere for anyone to go to pull over and let the ambulance pass.

"What's going on?" Bella asked.

"We're trying to get through the traffic, baby," I explained to her hoping it didn't freak her out. But I immediately noticed the expression on her face and knew I had done exactly that. She was about to panic and I had to do something fast to prevent it.

Scanning my brain for something I knew would make her laugh, I stumbled upon a memory from the summer before I left for college.

"Hey," I said to her as I gently lifted her chin up so her gaze met mine. "Remember the summer before I went to college and they had just started clearing the area around the lake for picnics and camping?"

Her brow scrunched together for a moment as she thought back and then slowly a soft smile spread across her face. "I fell in the lake," she murmured.

"You did," I told her as I smiled back at her. "Not only did you fall in, but you pulled me in with you."

"Was that the time you came home soaked and we had to get the front seats of your Volvo professionally cleaned due to the smell the lake water left in it?" my dad asked, joining in on the conversation. I was sure he could see how much it was helping to keep Bella relaxed.

"Yeah it was," I said with a chuckle. However the smile was wiped from my face almost instantly when Bella began having another pain. She wanted so badly to be able to roll over on her side, but was unable to due to her being on the ambulance gurney. I slipped my hand under her and rubbed her aching back as best as I could until her discomfort subsided and she was able to be comfortable again.

I recognized a hint of worry on my father's face. I wasn't sure what it was about, but I trusted that if it were serious he'd tell us. He whispered something to the paramedic and looked back over at Bella and me, picking up the conversation we'd been having a moment ago. "How'd that happen anyways? I don't think your mother and I ever got the _real_ story from you back then," my father questioned us with a smile of his own.

"Bella and I have always hung out at the lake—it's a special place for us," I began to explain while flashing Bella my uneven smile and winking at her to try and help my attempt to keep her relaxed. "We enjoyed the quiet and would often go there to be alone or have a picnic lunch. So one afternoon, not long after they began clearing the immediate area around the lakeshore for the picnic area and camping grounds, there were a bunch of logs floating on the water."

"And the two of you were horsing around and fell in?" my dad asked.

"Sorta," I admitted with a laugh. "This beautiful but stubborn and clumsy wife of mine just had to try and walk across one. Sitting on it successfully was not enough for her." Bella reached up and smacked me playfully on the arm. That was when I knew my plan was working. She had a smile on her face and was calm—at least for the moment. "What?" I teased her. "You are all of those things even now." I leaned down and kissed her lightly. "But those are just a few of the reasons why I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered. "And you can be a bit stubborn yourself you know."

"Yes he can," my dad added. I could tell he was about to say something else, but I held my finger up at him indicating he should stop since Bella's hand once again tightened like a vice on my hand indicating she had another contraction building.

I nodded my head at him to let him know it had passed and he could continue with what he was going to say. It didn't go unnoticed by me that he looked sternly at his watch for a little longer than it seemed he would were he just checking to see what time it was before he started to talk again.

"You hanging in there, okay?" he asked Bella.

"Trying to," she said while squirming to get in a somewhat more comfortable position.

"Good. Now how did you and Edward end up in the water?"

"See there was this one log that was real close to the shore. I wanted to sit on it," Bella told him.

"That's right she did, but like I said before sitting on it wasn't enough for her. Despite Bella's knack for being clumsy, she still has a bit of a daredevil streak in her."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" my dad interjected with a snicker.

"This log was right on the shore so we took our shoes off and wadded through the water to it. We'd been sitting on it for a few minutes and I might have stolen a kiss or two, when Bella decided that because the log seemed to be not moving much she wanted to walk on it. She stood while holding my hand and was doing fine until she tried to go further than my arm would reach. When she let go and then lost her balance, I tried to reach out for her and she caught hold of my hand but fell anyways, pulling both of us into the lake."

My father was chuckling and shaking his head at us while saying, "You do know that paybacks will happen? Your child is going to give you full retribution for all those moments you had when you were younger."

"That's what Esme…tol—here comes another one!"

"You can do this, Bella. Come on, baby, use your breathing. Long breath in and let it out slow. That's it." Once the contraction had passed and Bella was somewhat relaxed again I looked over at my father and asked him, "Hey, Dad. Her contractions seem to be getting closer together. Is it just my imagination?"

His lips pursed in concentration as he glanced down at his watch again. Letting out a long sigh as his eyes bore into mine, he ran his hand through his hair much the same way I always did when stressed. "No, Son. You are right. They are getting more frequent and judging by Bella's reaction, stronger too."

He got up from his seat next to me and moved over to the other side of the ambulance. I watched as he leaned over and began speaking softly to the paramedic that was in the back of the ambulance with us. After a few moments the paramedic nodded at him and then turned around to grab something. As he handed it to my father, I saw what it was and watched as my dad slipped on a pair of medical gloves.

"Bella, sweetheart," my father said to her as he came around to the foot of the gurney. The ambulance had started to move more and the swaying of it along with the tight quarters of the vehicle made it a bit difficult to maneuver around. "I'm going to examine you. I need you to try and relax. I know that's a bit difficult right now, but I need you to try. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?"

I brushed Bella's sweat drenched hair back from her face after she nodded her response to my father's question.

I lowered my face to Bella's ear and whispered to her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me as my father took care of things on the other end.

"Here comes another one," Bella moaned. "Shit it's a strong one."

"Breathe, baby. Come on, just like we learned in class," I encouraged her.

"She's about nine centimeters, maybe more. I stopped because she was already having another contraction. Can you call for emergency back up to get us through this traffic?" my father practically growled at the paramedic.

"I'm going to have this baby here aren't I?" Bella hissed through gritted teeth as she was hit with yet another contraction. They were coming every couple of minutes now.

I glared at my father again thinking of his words earlier when he'd said that even if Bella went into labor there'd be plenty of time to get her to the hospital.

"Dad?" The tone of my voice was probably a bit more harsh than I had intended it to be.

"How far is the hospital?" Bella asked, gasping as she began to try and breathe through her next contraction. They were getting even closer together. "Ungh," she moaned. "I need to push, the baby is coming."

"Fuck," I muttered as I buried my face against her hair and took a deep breath to prepare myself for what was about to happen.

"Ooohhhh, Edward," she cried.

"It's okay, baby, I'm here. We are going to get through this together and then we are going to meet our baby. Let's focus on holding our baby in our arms."

"Okay," she whimpered. "But it hurts. They're…" She paused and sucked in a deep breath. "They're coming one right on top of the other now." She had barely gotten the words out before another one slammed her, causing her to cry out in pain.

My father moved to check her again. "She's at ten. Looks like this baby isn't going to wait any longer."

"We've notified the hospital and they have everyone ready in the ambulance bay waiting for us," the paramedic told us.

Bella cried out again as she had yet another contraction. I hated seeing her in so much pain and not being able to do a damn thing about it, not to mention get her to the hospital any faster. "It's all gonna be fine, baby. You are doing great." I kissed her lightly on the lips and then focused on helping her through the birth of our baby.

"Okay, Bella, I know this isn't how you planned on this, but we are going to get him here safely I promise," my father told her as the paramedic undid the straps that were holding her to the gurney. I was sure it wasn't something they'd normally do while in transit, but there was no way Bella could get into position to deliver our baby with them holding her to the bed. "When your next contraction begins I want you to go ahead and push just like you learned in Lamaze class. Okay?"

Bella licked her lips and then nodded while squeezing my hand.

Everything seemed to happen so fast after that.

My father's words carried through the ambulance. "That's it, Bella. Push!" he told her.

Grunting and panting she pushed as hard as she could. Her face turned bright red from the force of her efforts.

Over the next several minutes Bella continued to push as the ambulance felt like it was barely creeping though the monstrous traffic jam caused by the celebration going on around the stadium.

"We got a police escort now. They are going to break up the traffic for us and blocking everything off to everyone else until we get through," the ambulance driver hollered back to us. "Five minute ETA."

"She's not far from crowning so they aren't going to be able to move her off this gurney. Tell them to be ready to deliver this baby in the back of this ambulance," my father relayed to them.

I heard the paramedic relay my father's words through the radio to the hospital and noticed that the ambulance had finally picked up some speed.

Bella was pushing again and just as my father said, "I can see the head, with your next contraction or two he's going to be here," the ambulance came to a sudden stop and the doors were flung open from the outside.

"He's almost here, sweetheart. You are doing so great. I love you," I whispered to her as she tried to catch her breath between contractions.

Unable to speak, she nodded in acknowledgement as my father moved over to her other side across from me and began relaying everything to the ER doctor who had climbed up in the ambulance and took over the delivery. As much as it would have been great for my father to deliver his own grandchild, because of strict rules against treating your own family members, I knew he wouldn't be allowed to.

"Okay, Mrs. Cullen, I'm Dr. Martin and on this next push I want you to push as hard as you can so we can get your baby out okay?"

"Okay," she gasped and just like that she was pushing as another pain hit her. "Ahhhh," she cried as she gave it her all. My dad and I both helped to raise her and help her pushing efforts along.

"Head's out. Good job," the doctor encouraged Bella. "Okay, Mrs. Cullen, the baby's shoulders are rotating so don't push yet. I know you are going to feel a lot of pressure and want to, but I need you to use your breathing and not do it until I tell you."

"Ugh…okay," Bella grunted. "Here comes a contraction."

"Wait. Breathe just a little bit longer," the doctor ordered.

"Almost there," he told her. "Count to ten with me…One. Two. Three…Okay, now. Push."

The next thing I knew the doctor was holding my and Bella's baby in his hands and a loud wail was echoing through the ambulance bay as our baby took his first breaths and cried. "It's a boy," he declared.

"He's here," Bella sighed as she slumped in my arms.

"He is and he's amazing just like his mother," I whispered as I leaned down to kiss her forehead.

The doctor held our son as the nurse quickly wrapped a few blankets around his tiny, red, squirming body and then laid our son on Bella's belly.

"Bella's hands were instantly reaching for him. "Can I hold him? I want to hold him," she cried.

"I promise you will as soon as we get you both inside and we cut the cord. Right now we need to get you out of this ambulance and inside," he reassured us.

The doctor then draped a blanket over the lower portion of Bella's body and legs before jumping out of the way. Bella held onto our son while the paramedics swiftly pulled the gurney out of the vehicle and my father and I followed along quickly as they wheeled the bed inside.

As soon as they had Bella situated in the hospital emergency room, they cut the cord that still tethered our son to Bella.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cullen," the doctor spoke, pulling our attention from our son as the nurse took him across the room. "The nurse is going to clean him up plus perform all the routine newborn tests. Once you have delivered the afterbirth and we've made sure you don't have any unexpected tears or injuries resulting from your sudden delivery, I promise to give him right back to you."

"Okay," I told him, answering for the both of us.

***X*X*X*X***

"He's perfect," I whispered to my wife as I gazed down at her holding my son in her arms about an hour later. I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes when I saw a few trailing down her cheeks as she looked up at me with the brightest smile I think I had ever seen on her face.

"I love you," I said returning the smile and then bending down to kiss her and our son.

"I love you too."

A short time later, after Bella had been switched to a regular hospital bed, she and our son were resting comfortably as we waited for her to be moved to her room up on the maternity floor. Neither of us seemed to be able to take our eyes, much less our hands, off of him at all.

There was a brief knock on the door followed by my dad entering the room. "Okay for me to pop in?" he asked.

"Of course," I said standing and pushing my hand through my hair. "Um, actually could I talk to you for a minute out in the hall, Dad?"

"Sure. What's up?" he asked. His brows furrowed in his confusion.

"I'll be right back, love," I whispered to Bella as I gave her a soft kiss.

"Is something wrong?" she wanted to know.

"No, I just owe my father an apology. I'll explain later," I told her.

She nodded before turning her gaze back to the bundle in her arms.

We stepped out into the hall and with my hands slid into my pockets I considered how to phrase my words.

Exhausted from the day's events, I went with what was easy. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Whatever for, Edward?"

"Some of the things I said…how I acted at times today. It was…Well it was out of line wrong and I'm sorry."

"It was," he stated. "However," he went on as he reached out and gripped my shoulder with his large hand, "you were stressed and under pressure, not to mention worried about Bella."

"It's no excuse though. You didn't deserve it."

"No, but under the circumstances I'm willing to let it slide."

"Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome," he told me and he pulled me into a hug. "Now how about you introduce me to my grandson, before everyone else gets here?"

Walking back into the room, I moved over to the side of Bella's bed. "I think Grandpa is eager to meet someone."

Bella placed a few soft kisses on our son's forehead and handed him to me, smiling widely.

"Dad," I said as I placed the sleeping tiny person in his arms, "I'd like to introduce you to, Charles Anthony Carlisle Cullen."

His gaze had been fixated on his grandson until he heard little Charlie's second middle name. In that instant his eyes shot up to mine and I didn't need any words to see just how much it meant to him that Bella and I had included him when naming our son.

Answering his unspoken question, I told him, "When we found out we were having a boy, Bella wanted our son to be named after the three most important men in her life."

Bella had spoken to her mom when we'd decided on the name and was assured by Renee that Phil would not be disappointed or hurt at all. It was just simply a matter of Bella and Phil not having the close father-daughter relationship she had with my father. She liked and cared for Phil, but we just didn't spend enough time around him for the two of them to develop that type of bond. So our son was named after her father, my father and me.

"I…I'm honored. Thank you," he replied in a shaky voice full of emotion.

Later that night after everyone had come and gone, Bella was sleeping finally and I was lying next to her in the bed with Charlie nestled between us in my arms.

His eyes drifted closed as I stroked the side of his little cheek. I hadn't ever imagined anyone could have skin softer then his mother, but he did.

It hadn't been long after Bella had been moved to her own room later that evening when everyone, including Emmett, had burst through the door dying to meet their grandson, nephew and cousin. I almost felt bad for Lizzie when she'd had a brief pouting session over that fact that we'd had a boy. She had been hoping that we'd have a girl.

They had taken turns passing little Charlie around until they'd all had an opportunity to hold him. I was certain I'd seen something sparkle in my sister's eye when it had been her turn to hold him. I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before her and Jasper might have something to announce.

Of course everyone had been instantly smitten with Charlie. Their comments had all varied, but it was Emmett's that had us all laughing and awing at the same time. First he said that he was going to call him Chuck because it was more fitting for a baseball player. He had then told him as he held him that he better be ready for baseball lessons from his uncle. Because any boy who was going to be born when Emmett hit the game winning home run of the World Series was destined to play baseball. We'd all known Em was serious too. And honestly I couldn't wait. I didn't want him to grow up too fast—I wanted to cherish every minute—but if he chose to follow in his uncle's footsteps I knew that I'd be incredibly proud of him. I'd be proud no matter what he chose to do. Even if he followed in his Grandfather Charlie's footsteps.

A little squeak escaped his tiny mouth as he yawned widely and squirmed for a moment before dozing back off. As I gazed at the two loves of my life in my arms, I was flooded with such a huge feeling of love and joy, more than I'd ever felt before. It was an amazing, incredible feeling and I knew then and there that I had everything I'd ever wanted and more, and the two of them were all I'd ever need.

**~*The End*~**

**And they lived happily ever after, right? Well of course. I hope you enjoyed this little story. I know I had fun writing it. There is a picture on my blog of all the stuff Uncle Emmett bought for Baby Charlie. **

**Some of you have asked if I have a new story in the works and I am happy to say that I do. It will be a full length story and I think it's going to be a little different for me. Below you will find a summary for the story and a teaser for the first chapter. I hope to begin posting it in a few weeks. **

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**Somewhere I Belong**

_Born to parents living a rich and glamorous lifestyle, Bella had never felt as if she belonged in their world where life often felt fake and pretentious. Wanting more out of life and wanting to make a worthwhile difference, Bella assumes a fake identity and heads off to spend her last summer before college doing something real and meaningful. Her journey starts with meeting a handsome stranger, raised to help those need—and to detest the rich._

Large hands with long slender fingers reached up to grab my bag. When his hand touched mine a jolt of energy shot through me, causing me to jump and the sudden movement sent my sunglasses tumbling from the top of my head to the floor.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized.

"It's…um…okay," I replied. I stood there staring at him somewhat dazed and slightly stunned by my reaction to his touch.

I shook my head briefly to clear it from the fog I felt like I was in and bent to pick up my glasses, not realizing he was already in the process of doing the same thing. Before either of us had time to react, the back of his head was colliding with my chin and I found myself falling backwards and landing on the floor of the plane. My hand immediately went to the spot where the two had connected and I rubbed it, trying to ease the dull throbbing sensation that was occurring.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" the stranger asked.

I looked up at him and saw him rubbing the back of his head and staring down at me. I couldn't help but notice he was probably the most handsome man I had ever seen. Judging by the look of sincere remorse on his face he knew how to behave like a man too. If this had happened with one of the pimple faced, squirrely, immature high school boys I constantly refused to date back home, they'd be instantly spewing some lame line about how I needed to watch what I was doing. Instead he was concerned about whether or not I was okay.

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**Thanks so very much for reading, I appreciate each and every one of my amazing readers. I have had a few suggestions for some outtakes, so you just never know when one might pop up. **

**Let me know what you thought,**

**EA**


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